(Courtesy of Wellesly Sports Information)
WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Wellesley basketball returned from its
Thanksgiving break with a 55-39 win over Wentworth Institute of
Technology this evening at Keohane Sports Center. The win
lifts the Blue to 2-3. The Leopards drop to 2-4.
Wentworth jumped to an early 4-0 lead with an eight-footer from Kirsten
Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) and two freethrows from Michelle
Fauci (Boxford, Mass.). Wellesley answered with a three-pointer
from Katie Martore (Great Falls, Va.) and a freethrow from Malia
Maier (Torrance, Calif.) to tie the score at 4-4. The visitors
then went on 6-0 run, including a layup from Fauci and a 15-footer
from Vallone, for a 10-4 lead at the 15:00 mark.
Wellesley responded with a run of its own, sparked by a Maier
steal and a layup from Becca Kimball (Weston, Mass.), to tie the
score at 10-10. The Leopards regained the lead with with another
jumper from Vallone, but the Blue took their first lead of the game
with a trey from Robyn Burleson (Seattle, Wash.). Wellesley
followed with a layup from KD Stearns (Eustis, Fla.) and two points
from the charity stripe for a 17-12 edge.
The Leopards broke the string with a steal and layup from Michelle
Moffo (Southington, Conn.). Another Wentworth steal led to
two more points, cutting the Wellesley lead to 17-16 with 6:38
remaining in the half. Stearns pushed the Wellesley lead back to
three with a putback and followed with layup in the next possession
for a 21-17 edge at the 2:08 mark. After a Wentworth bucket,
Kimball sank a short jumper, giving the Blue a 23-19 advantage at
the break.
The Blue opened the second half with three points from Ashleigh
Sargent (Bedford, N.H.), to open a 26-19 lead with 18:10 on the
clock. Maier followed with a steal and fullcourt layup to
extend the lead to nine and force a Wentworth timeout.
The Leopards responded with four straight from Fauci, trimming the
lead to 28-23 at 16:18. Moffo followed with a layup to cut the
lead to three, before a layup from Wellesley's Burleson stretched
the lead back to 30-25 with 14:30 left. Two freethrows
from Wellesley's Elisha Orama (Miramar, Fla.) gave the Blue a
seven-point edge, but Wentworth answered with three straight to
trim the lead to 32-28.
At the 7:10 mark, after four scoreless minutes, Wellesley's
Kimball drained a layup for a 36-28 lead. Fauci answered
immediately for Wentworth to keep the Panthers within six, but
Kimball worked inside for another layup to push the lead to 38-30,
and followed with two freethrows on the next possession to give the
Blue a 40-30 lead with 5:48 remaining in the game. After
another stop, Wellesley broke a fullcourt press for another Kimball
layup, this time for a three-point play and a 13-point
advantage. Orama followed with another freethrow to give the
Blue a 44-30 lead with 4:30 left.
Fauci broke the drought for the Leopards with three freethrows at
the 4:03 mark, and Jessie
Coffey (Wakefield, R.I.) followed with a driving layup to cut
the lead to 44-35. But Wentworth could get no closer, as
Wellesley earned a hard-fought 55-39 victory.
Fauci led Wentworth with 15 points and four steals. Vallone
tallied eight points in just 19 minutes of play, while Moffo and
Coffey chipped in six and five points, respectively.
Kimball led the Blue with a career-high 19 points, while Maier and
Stearns netted 10 points each. Maier also led Wellesley in
steals with five and rebounds with eight.
The Leopards return to action on Wednesday, December 2, at 7:00pm,
when they host Pine Manor College. The Blue also take the
court on Wednesday at 7:00pm, when they travel to Clark University
for their NEWMAC opener.
