Brickley, Shoemaker combine for 47 points

BOSTON, Mass.  – Wheaton College forwards Abbie Brickley (Sandy, Utah/Skyline) and Kiley Shoemaker (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayeteville-Manlius) combined for 47 points to guide the Lyons past Emerson College, 73-63, on Tuesday night in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action at the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym.

Brickley tallied a game-high 27 points on 11-for-19 shooting from the field and grabbed eight rebounds, while Shoemaker notched her third double-double of the season with 20 points (9-for-13 FG) and ten rebounds alongside four steals, two assists and one block.

Senior guard Laura Pierce (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) added ten assists in the victory to surpass Casey Sorbara '07 for fifth all-time in program history on the career assists list (350 total), while classmate Kenzie Kuhn (Glenwood Springs, Colo./Glenwood Springs) compiled six points and eight rebounds. Senior guard Kirsten Ferrari (Lynn, Mass./St. Mary's) chipped in with 13 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Emerson senior forward Kristin Brice (Indiana, Penn./Indiana Senior High) paced the hosts with 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and a trio of steals. The Lions also received at least four points or more from seven other different student-athletes highlighted by first-year guard Eastin Ashby (Pittston, Penn./Pittston Area) who contributed ten points off the bench in 25 minutes played.

Tied 57-57 with 7:09 remaining in the matchup, Wheaton went on a 6-0 run and never looked back despite trailing by as many as eight points early on in the second half. Shoemaker ignited the run with a jump shot at the 6:48 mark and Brickley followed with a layup at 5:15 to push the Lyons' advantage to 61-57.

Brickley concluded the run with a pair of free throws before Emerson stopped the spurt with a layup from first-year forward Sierra Ducey (Poway, Calif./The Bishop's School), who finished the game with nine points, two assists and a pair of steals. Both teams then exchanged baskets to make it a two possession contest at 65-61, but Shoemaker converted two-straight layups to push the score to 69-61 with 1:38 left to play.

Kuhn and Ferrari went on to close out the game at the free throw line going a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe. Wheaton concluded the matchup with a 15-for-15 showing at the free throw line recording a perfect free throw percentage – minimum ten attempts or more – for the seventh time in program history.

Wheaton, facing the No. 1 ranked NCAA Division III program in the country in field goal percentage defense at 27.4-percent, shot 47.5-percent (28-for-59) from the field in the win. The Lyons are the only team to shoot 40.0-percent or better against Emerson so far this season in 13 games. Emerson shot 43.3-percent (26-for-60) from the field, 47.1-percent (8-for-17) from beyond the arc and 42.9-percent (3-for-7) at the free throw line.

Wheaton (9-5, 5-1 NEWMAC), who is currently tied with Babson College atop the NEWMAC standings, hosts Wellesley in a conference matchup this Thursday at 7 p.m. Emerson (7-6, 2-3 NEWMAC) welcomes MIT to its campus on Thursday for a NEWMAC clash scheduled for 7 p.m.

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