Mitchell Rallies Past Women's Basketball 68-53

BOSTON, Mass. (12/12/17) – Freshman Marissa Sweeney (Hudson, N.H.) scored 17 points with 11 rebounds to lead the Mitchell College women's basketball team over Wentworth Institute of Technology, 68-53, on Tuesday evening inside Tansey Gymnasium.

The loss drops the Leopards to 1-8 overall, while the Mariners pick up their second win of the season at 2-7.

The Leopards started hot in the first quarter, jumping to a quick 6-1 lead. Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) grabbed five rebounds in the stretch scoring two points of her own, as Wentworth kept a five-point cushion (11-6) with a deep trey from Stephani Mini (Topsfield, Mass.) at the three-minute mark. A quick 4-0 spurt from the Mariners pulled the visitors within one, 11-10, but Michelle McCloskey (Madison, Conn.) knocked down a jumper before Sam McGibbon (Pembroke, Mass.) made a buzzer-beating bucket shot from downtown to hold a 16-10 after the first quarter.

The Leopards used four points from Baylor Johnson (Greer, S.C.) in the beginning of the second quarter to gain a double-digit advantage on the Mariners. A three-pointer from Maya Spence (Georgetown, Mass.) then gave WIT its largest lead of the game, 23-10, before Mitchell staged its first half comeback. The Mariners scored the next 17 of 24 points – 11 coming off the hands of Sweeney – to deadlock the game 30-30 heading into halftime.

After Francesca Pinard (Arlington, Mass.) converted on two free throws to open the third stanza, Samantha Madden (Plainville, Mass.) sunk a layup from Sabino to tie the game for what would be the last time of the night, 32-32. With 7:18 left in the frame, Ashley Beauford (Newington, Conn.) finished a three-pointer from Sweeney for a six-point lead, as the Mariners never looked back for the remainder of the contest. Mitchell took the lead into double-digits (56-46) on a downtown bucket from Allegra Jones (New Haven, Conn.) with 6:24 in regulation which carried the Mariners to the 68-53 victory.

Erin Morton (Norway, Maine) registered her first career double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds accompanied by three assists to lead the Leopards. Sabino joined Morton with a double-double stat line of 10 points and 10 boards.

Sweeney additionally dished out four assists to go along with her double-double performance, while Haley Garcia (South Windsor, Conn.) and Jones added 14 and 10 points, respectively, to round out double-digit scoring for the visitors.

The Leopards close out the semester with a 5:00 p.m. contest at Bridgewater State on Thursday, December 14. The Mariners are off until the New Year, and return to action on Monday, January 1 for a 2:00 p.m. road test at Connecticut College.

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