WELLESLEY, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball fell to host Wellesley College, 55-46, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse in Wellesley, Mass.
The Lyons drop to 5-14 overall and 1-4 in NEWMAC play, while the Blue improve to 9-9 and 3-2.
Both teams struggled from the floor. Wheaton held Wellesley to just 29.6% (21-71) from the field, but the Blue committed just eight turnovers in the game. The Lyons shot 19-61 (31.1%) and connected on just one of 14 attempts for a 7.1% success rate in the third quarter. Wheaton was 6-28 (21.4%) from three-point range and committed 20 turnovers, resulting in a 14-7 points off turnovers advantage for Wellesley.
Senior forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) posted her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds to go with an assist for Wheaton. Sophomore guard Daniella MacDonald (Newtown, Pa.) netted a career-high 11 points, including a trio of three-pointers, and added two rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes off the bench, while junior forward Cheyenne Colbert (Brookline, N.H.) contributed with nine points, seven boards, three assists and a blocked shot.
Junior guard Trinity Barrow (Evans, Ga.) led all scorers with 20 points to lead the Blue in addition to grabbing nine rebounds, handing out an assist and coming up with four steals. Sophomore forward Ava Shane (Plano, Texas) scored 10 points, pulled down seven boards, doled out an assist, came up with two steals and blocked a shot. Sophomore guard Stacy Chen (Minneapolis, Minn.) chipped in with seven points, two steals and a career-high 13 rebounds.
The Lyons controlled the first half, owning a 29-25 lead after the first two quarters of play. Chen knocked down a jumper to pull Wellesley even at 3-3 with 4:39 showing in the opening quarter, before Wheaton put together a 9-3 stretch capped by a triple from MacDonald to give the Lyons a 12-6 cushion with 73 seconds to go in the period. The Blue scored four of the next six points, including a jumper at the buzzer from Barrow to pull them within 14-10 at the end of the quarter.
Wellesley continued its momentum into the second quarter, scoring the first five points with a three-pointer from first year guard Tanvi Agarwal (Woodinville, Wash.) and a layup from Chen to give the home team a 15-14 edge. Wheaton answered with an 11-4 run, paced by a pair of MacDonald threes and a triple from senior guard Kennis Jasperson (Sacramento, Calif.) to give the Lyons a 25-19 margin to match their largest lead with 4:13 showing in the quarter. The Blue scored the next four points to pull even after a jumper from sophomore guard Proud Techarungchaikul (Bangkok, Thailand) with 2:33 to play in the half. Wheaton closed out the period with the final four points, including a layup from Colbert to give the Lyons a 29-25 halftime lead.
Wellesley's defense made a stand in the third quarter, limiting Wheaton to just one field goal in the period, while the offense scored 14 unanswered points, including nine from Barrow, to take a 39-29 advantage with 1:36 remaining in the quarter. First year guard Sydney MacCalla (Middletown, N.Y.) converted a free throw after a made layup to end a scoring drought of 9:14 for the Lyons and cut the deficit to 39-32 before heading to the fourth quarter.
The Blue took their largest lead of the day after a 9-4 run, fueled by seven points from Barrow, to give Wellesley a 48-36 cushion with 4:15 to go in the contest. Wheaton battled back with a 10-2 run, including six points from Keyter and four from Colbert, to close within 50-46 with 42 ticks left in the game. The Blue scored the final five points of the afternoon to come away with the win.
The Lyons return to the court on Wednesday, February 4 when they host No. 6 Smith College in a NEWMAC tilt at 7:00 p.m. in Emerson Gymnasium, while Wellesley travels to Cambridge, Mass. to take on league rival Massachusetts Institute of Technology on the same night for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.
