Wellesley, Mass. - Host Wellesley College
posted a 78-59 win over NEWMAC rival Clark University on Wednesday
at Keohane Sports Center.
Wellesley improves to an overall record of 5-11 and 3-8 in the
NEWMAC, while Clark drops to 4-14 and 3-8 in the NEWMAC.
Wellesley gained a 4-0 advantage from the start with back-to-back
steals and fast breaks by Malia Maier. After building a steady
eight-point lead during the first twelve minutes of the game, the
Blue pressed their edge with two consecutive three-pointers by
Elisha Orama and Maier.
Becca Kimball sunk two foul shots to lift the Blue to a 15-point
lead, 33-18, at 7:54.
Kate Minster (Manchester, England) responded with
four three-pointers and six field goals of her own to chip away at
the gap in the first half en route to a career-high 19 points.
However, the Blue offense kept rolling with two three-pointer
apiece from Laura Barrett and Katie Martore. Maier contributed six
steals as Wellesley closed the first half with a 46-26, 20-point
advantage.
Jillian Camilleri (Lancaster, Mass.) opened the
second half with a lay-up for Clark. Maier of Wellesley followed
with a trey and two foul shots to push the blue to a 24-point
advantage at 16:57.
Three Blue lay-ups by Ashleigh Sargent, Robyn Burleson, and Kimball
were met by a Cougar lay-up from Kelsey Johnston
(Shirley, Mass.), leaving Wellesley a 27-point lead with 14:37 on
the clock.
Tight defense on both sides held the score until 11:18 when
Johnston converted a conventional three-point play for the
Cougars.
Even offense maintained Wellesley's advantage, resting in the
twenties for the remainder of the game as both teams' scores
climbed.
The Clark offense kept pushing with a three from Theresa Pickens (Worcester, Mass.) and two from Brittany Kennedy (West Hartford, Conn.) in the last 39 seconds of
the game, but Wellesley held on to a 19-point lead.
The 78-59 victory brought the Blue their second home win in a row
and their highest offensive output of the season. The game also
marked a season high of 10 three-pointers and a season low of 11
turnovers for the Blue. In addition to Mininster, Pickens scored a
career-high 13 points in just 12 minutes.
Wellesley's Maier matched a career-high and NEWMAC best with eight
steals, while also leading all scorers with 20 points. The Blue got
a solid 17 points from Kimball, while Barrett scored a season-high
of nine points with three three-pointers. Rounding out the offense
for Wellesley, Sargent finished with eight points and KD Stearns
(Eustis, FL) added seven.
Wellesley will be back in action at 2pm on Saturday, January 30,
hosting Mount Holyoke while the Clark Cougars visit WPI.
