Wellesley Basketball Dominant in Win over Bard, 60-30

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Wellesley College basketball picked up their first win of the season over Bard, 60-30, in the consolation game of the 24th Annual University of Saint Joseph's (Conn.) Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday at O'Connell Athletic Center.

First year Arla Hofer (Las Vegas. Nev.) led the Blue (1-2) with 14 points and a pair of blocks and was named to the All-Tournament Team. First year Shannon Li (Los Altos, Calif.) had 11 points while junior Elle Petra (Guilford, Conn.) and sophomore Sairah O'Brien-Forde (Binghamton, N.Y.) each added nine points of their own for Wellesley. Junior Thalia Grandinetti (Bridgewater, N.J.) led the Raptors (0-2) with 11 points.

Grandinetti opened the game with a basket for the Raptors. Li gave Wellesley their first lead at 5-3 led midway through the first with a three pointer. The Blue paced their offense, running their lead to 12-5 later in the first on a layup from O'Brien Forde. The Blue led 20-9 after one quarter with Li hitting a pair of three-pointers.

The Blue scored their first 10 points of the second quarter with Petra and first year Madison Wieboldt (Chapel Hill, N.C.) each contributing four points during the run. Wellesley took a 34-14 lead by the end of the first half.  

Li started the second half with her third three of the game for Wellesley, and the Blue finished the third quarter up 41-24.

The fourth saw more scoring for the Blue from Wieboldt and O'Brien Forde while sophomore Allison Koziarz (New Rochelle, N.Y.) finished with a team leading five assists in addition to three steals as the Blue closed out a 60-30 victory.

The Blue play their home opener Tuesday night at 7:00 PM against Nichols. The Raptors travel to Sarah Lawrence for a 7:00 PM matchup on Tuesday.