SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. — First year guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) led three players with 13 or more points for the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team in a 62-36 win over host Mount Holyoke College this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Howard Gymnasium in South Hadley, Mass. 

The Lyons improve to 13-12 overall and 3-7 in league play to finish their regular season, while MHC falls to 2-22 and 0-9. Wheaton remains in the hunt for a playoff spot and will need to await results from this Saturday's conference contests. 

The Lyons put the game away in the middle quarters, outscoring Mount Holyoke, 18-10 and 18-7 in the second and third quarters, respectively. The Wheaton defense held its host to just 22.4% (13-58) shooting, including a paltry 5.6% (1-18) from three-point range. The Lyons never trailed in the game and owned a 44.6% (25-56) field goal percentage, including 9-21 (42.9%) from long range.

Walters added six rebounds, four steals and a pair of assists for Wheaton, while first year guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) knocked down a career-high three trifectas as part of a 5-7 shooting effort from the floor in addition to four rebounds. Sophomore guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) scored 11 points on 5-9 from the field to go with six boards, four assists, a steal and a block. The trio were three of 10 players to score in the game for the Lyons. 

Sophomore Marley Berano (Lady Lake, Fla.) led MHC with 13 points and two assists, while first year Taryn White (Alexandria, Va.) added nine points and a game-high eight rebounds.

Duwe hit a jump shot at the 8:04 mark of the opening quarter to give Wheaton an early 8-2 lead, before Mount Holyoke closed to within 8-7 after scoring five straight points.

Walters canned a three-pointer to give the Lyons a 16-9 lead with 3:25 showing in the first quarter, before MHC cut the deficit to 16-13 following a jumper from Berano with 1:41 left in the quarter. It was as close as the home team would get for the remainder of the night.

Walters made a layup before the end of the quarter to give Wheaton a five-point lead after one quarter of play.

The Lyons scored the first six points of the second period as part of a 20-6 stretch, fueled by five points each from Fernandes and Walters, to take a 36-19 cushion with 1:35 to go in the opening half. 

Berano converted four free throws for the quarter's final points to pull the home team to within 36-23 at the intermission.

Wheaton opened the third quarter with an 18-5 run to increase its lead to 54-28. Junior guard Isabel Cordes (Yorktown, Va.) hit a layup for the last points of the quarter to cut the margin to 54-30 for MHC.

The teams combined for just 14 points (Wheaton 8, Mount Holyoke 6) in the final quarter of play.

MHC heads to Springfield, Mass. to take on Springfield College in its season finale on February 18 at 1:00 p.m.