For Immediate Release
January 9, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information
Wellesley Drops NEWMAC Opener to Springfield
Box Score
WELLESLEY, MA – Wellesley College opened its New England Men's and Women's Conference (NEWMAC) season tonight against a strong and experienced Springfield squad, falling to the Pride 79-51. The Blue drop to 3-8 on the season (0-1 NEWMAC) while Springfield improves to 5-6 (1-0 NEWMAC).
Springfield opened the game with a 10-4 run, including three buckets from Tara McCarthy (Bristol, RI). Wellesley tied the score at 10-10 with back-to-back three-pointers from Katie Martore (Great Fall, VA) and Laura Barret (Dobbs Ferry, NY). The Pride broke away again with two baskets each from Rachelle Walker (Lee, MA) and Lauren O'Connor (Valhalla, NY), using a 12-3 run to take a 25-17 lead with 7:05 remaining in the half.
The Blue battled back with strong offensive rebounding from Julia Thomas (Concord, CA) and Jessica Duff (Milton, Abingdon, UK), trimming the lead to 27-24 at the 4:00 mark. But the Pride erupted in the final minutes of the half as McCarthy drained back-to-back buckets from three-point land, to give Springfield a 39-28 lead at the break.
Springfield maintained its momentum in the opening minutes of the second half, outscoring the Blue 14-6 in the first five minutes for a 53-34 lead. The teams traded baskets until the 10-minute mark, when the Pride made another burst, going on a 12-3 to stretch their lead to 73-41, allowing them to coast to a 79-51 win.
Springfield was led by McCarthy with 14 points. O'Connor tallied 12 points and led the team with seven boards and four assists, while notching five steals. Corey Finch (Hanover, PA) and Amelia Sapowsky (Ware, MA), added ten and eight points, respectively.
Thomas notched her third straight double-double for Wellesley, scoring 16 points while grabbing 10 rebounds. Duff added 14 points, while Martore led the Blue with seven assists and three steals.
Wellesley returns to action on Saturday at 2:00 p.m., hosting WPI in a NEWMAC match-up. Springfield will take the court at 2:00 on Saturday, when they travel to Worcester State for a non-conference game.