SOUTH HADLEY Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team held host Mount Holyoke College to just 17.5% (10-57) shooting en-route to a 55-25 victory in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play this evening at Howard Gymnasium in South Hadley, Mass.
The Lyons improve to 5-11 overall and 1-1 in league play, while MHC dips to 4-12 and 0-2.
Wheaton's 25 points allowed is the sixth-lowest single-game effort in school history and the fewest points allowed in a contest since the Lyons defeated visiting Mount Holyoke, 81-21, on January 18, 2020. Wheaton's defense was even tighter on the three-point arc, allowing just one triple in 17 tries for the home team for a paltry 5.9% success rate. The Lyons also owned a 53-45 rebounding advantage, while shooting 27.3% (18-66) from the field. The visitors held their hosts to single digits in all but the fourth quarter of play, including just two points in the third period of play.
All 13 players in the box score registered at least one point for Wheaton, led by junior forward Regan Keyter's (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) total of 11 points. She was 4-6 from the floor and added a rebound, an assist and a blocked shot in 19 minutes of work. Sophomore guard Mary McClintock (Essex Junction, Vt.) chipped in with her first career double-double, scoring 10 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to go with four assists and a pair of steals. Senior forward Mireille Tona (Portland, Maine) came off the bench to contribute with six points, seven boards and a blocked shot in 14 minutes of action.
Sophomore forward Sofia Francisco (Boston, Mass.) paced MHC with a game-high 12 points on 5-10 shooting and added 13 rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
Sophomore guard Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.) knocked down Mount Holyoke's lone three-pointer to pull the home team even at 5-5 with 4:55 to play in the opening quarter. The Lyons put together a 12-2 run to close out the quarter, fueled by five points each from Tona and McClintock, to give Wheaton a 17-7 advantage after one quarter of action.
Francisco converted a layup at the 6:47 mark of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 19-11 for MHC, but the Lyons ended the quarter and the half with nine of the final 11 points to take a 28-13 margin into the break.
Wheaton outscored Mount Holyoke, 13-2, in the third quarter, including 12 straight points and seven points from Keyter, to inflate its cushion to 41-15 with one quarter to play in the contest.
The Lyons scored seven of the first nine points to open the final period of play and take a 48-17 margin with 5:40 showing on the fourth quarter clock. Francisco scored the game's next four points for MHC to pull the home team within 48-21 at 4:09, but Wheaton answered with five straight points – all from first year guard Daniella MacDonald (Newtown, Pa.) – to take its largest lead of the night at 53-21 with 3:24 remaining in the game.
The Lyons return to the hardwood on January 25 when they return to Western Massachusetts to take on No. 7 Smith College in NEWMAC play at 2:00 p.m. in Northamtpon, Mass., while Mount Holyoke heads to Worcester, Mass. to play Clark University in a 2:00 p.m. conference game on the same day.
