Wellesley Hands Wentworth Fourth Straight Loss

(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.