NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team suffered a 48-44 defeat in overtime to visiting Wellesley College this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Blue snap a five-game losing streak and improve to 8-14 overall and 2-6 in league play, while the Lyons slip to 12-12 and 2-7.

Prior to the game, Wheaton honored its lone senior Rian Sachs (Brunswick, Maine), who started and finished with three points, two rebounds and two assists in 13 minutes of play.

Neither team shot well in the game with Wellesley owning a 29.8% (17-57) mark from the field and Wheaton shooting 25.9% (15-58) from the floor. The Lyons shot just 22.7% (5-22) from three-point range. Wheaton owned a 46-44 rebounding margin and outscored its guests, 17-6 in second chance points, but committed 23 turnovers in the game.

First year forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) matched her career high with 19 points to lead all scorers in addition to eight rebounds for the Lyons. Sophomore guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) was 4-8 from the field to score 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, handed out five assists and blocked a pair of shots. 

Senior forward Pujita Shukla (Austin, Texas) scored 16 points to lead the Blue and was 7-12 from the field to go with eight rebounds and three steals, while first year Arla Hofer (Las Vegas, Nev.) netted 10 points and added eight boards and three steals. Sophomore guard Sairah O'Brien-Forde (Binghamton, N.Y.) chipped in with four points, two assists, a steal and a game-high nine rebounds.

The teams were tied at 39-39 after regulation, before Keyter scored with a layup just six seconds into the overtime to give Wheaton a 41-39 lead.

Shukla countered for Wellesley with a step-back jumper that she used time after time throughout the afternoon to pull the teams even at 3:38 of the extra period. First year guard Shannon Li (Los Altos, Calif.) drilled a trifecta for just one of two threes on the day for the visitors to give them a 44-41 lead at 2:52. 

Fernandes knotted the game at 44-44 for the Lyons  with a three-point play after making a layup and converting a free throw with 2:32 to play in the contest.

It was the last shot that Wheaton made for the game. The Lyons managed just one field goal attempt and missed a pair of free throws, while turning the ball over four times in the final two and a half minutes. In the meantime, Shukla drained a pair of free throws with 64 seconds to play and junior guard Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) sank two freebies with 27 seconds left to give Wellesley the final margin of victory and an eventual 48-44 win.

The Blue scored the first seven points of the game, including four from Hofer. Wheaton collected itself and put together an 11-2 stretch, fueled by five points from Keyter and four from Fernandes, to take an 11-9 lead with 1:17 showing in the first quarter. First year guard Yitzel Serna (Palmdale, Calif.) made one of two free throws to cut the deficit to one for Wellesley before the quarter expired.

The Blue held the Lyons to just 1-9 from the floor in the second quarter and outscored them 10-2 to take a 20-13 lead at the intermission. Wheaton scored its only points on a Keyter layup at the 7:08 mark to trail 16-13, before Wellesley scored the only points for the remainder of the quarter.

Hofer knocked down a jumper with 9:39 to go in the third quarter to give the Blue a 22-13 advantage. The Lyons responded with a 14-5 run, paced by seven points from Keyter, to tie the game at 27-27 with 1:48 left in the period. Wellesley scored five of the final six points with a three-pointer from Chae and a layup from junior forward Elle Petra (Guilford, Conn.) to take a 32-28 lead with one quarter of regulation to play.

First year forward Nasha Arnold (North Reading, Mass.) finished a driving layup to give Wheaton its first lead since the end of the first quarter at 33-32 with 7:26 remaining in the fourth period. Keyter later kept the home team ahead with a trey at the 4:12 mark to make it 37-34. 

Shukla pulled the Blue even at 37-37 with 2:18 showing on a driving layup. Fernandes reclaimed the lead for the Lyons with a pair of free throws, but senior guard Rachel Shurberg (Fairfax, Va.) answered with a driving layup to tie the tilt at 39-39 for Wellesley with 43 ticks left in regulation. 

The Blue was unable to muster a shot in the final seconds and Wheaton came up empty on a pair of shots from the field to send the game to OT. 

Both teams return to conference action on Wednesday, February 15 at 7:00 p.m. Wellesley travels to Worcester, Mass. to take on Clark University, while the Lyons head to South Hadley, Mass. to play Mount Holyoke College in their final game of the regular season.