For Immediate Release
January 26, 2008
Wellesley Sports Information
Wellesley Falls to Wheaton, 71-62
Box Score
Wellesley, Mass – Despite 25 points from Jessica Duff (Milton, Abingdon, UK), Wellesley fell to a strong Wheaton squad this afternoon, 71-62. The win lifts the Lyons to 12-5 on the season, 5-0 in NEWMAC play. The Blue fall to 5-11, 2-4 in the conference.
In the openings minutes of the game, both teams came out firing from beyond the three-point line, as Bri Smith (Westford, MA) and Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA) hit for Wheaton and Courtney Richter (Sinking Springs, MD) hit for Wellesley. The Blue took a 9-6 lead on a layup from Duff before Wheaton rebounded to take a 12-11 advantage at the 14:30 mark. Back-to-back turnaround jumpers from Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA) extended the Lyons lead to 16-11, forcing a Wellesley timeout at 13:20.
Another Wheaton bucket stretched the lead to seven, but five straight Wellesley points, including Richter’s second trey, trimmed the lead to the lead to 18-16. The teams traded buckets, then Richter drained her third three-pointer of the half, cutting the lead to 22-21.
After a Wheaton timeout, the Lyons tightened their trapping press and went on a 8-2 run, capped by a three-pointer from Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT), to take a 30-23 lead at the 4:30 mark. A layup and freethrow from Duff cut the lead to four, but the Wheaton closed out the half with ten unanswered points, including Aitchison’s second trey, to give the guests a 40-26 lead at the break.
The second half opened with the teams trading baskets, until back-to-back jumpers from Champney gave Wheaton a 46-29 lead. Wellesley briefly grabbed the momentum with a 7-2 run, including a three-pointer from Courtney Pelley (Leicester, MA), trimming the lead to 48-36 at the 15:00 mark. Wheaton responded with a run of its own, with two more buckets from Champley to re-extend the lead to 55-40 with 12:10 remaining.
The teams traded buckets again, then a trey from Wellesley's Lindsey Migliore (Allen Park, MI) and back-to-back layups from Duff and Julia Thomas (Concord, CA) cut the lead to eight, at 57-49 with 8:30 play. After two Wheaton freethrows, Duff drained a long three-pointer, bringing the Blue to within striking distance, at 59-52. A 12-foot jumper from Champley stretched the lead back to nine, but a layup from Duff and two freethrows from Richter trimmed the Wheaton lead to 61-56 with 5:10 remaining.
A layup from Aitchison, followed by a steal and three-point play from Bailey, extended the Lyon lead back to ten points. Wellesley responded with four unanswered points, cutting the lead to 68-62 with 1:40 left on the clock. With a key offensive rebound, the Lyons ran nearly a minute off the clock, but could not score. A freethrow from Duff brought the Blue to within five, at 68-63, but that was a close as the hosts would would get. Wheaton closed out the game with four unanswered points, taking the game 72-63.
Champney led the Lyons with 20 points. Bailey tallied 15 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists, while Aitchison notched a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards. Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH), despite spending much of the second half in foul trouble, tallied 12 points in the win, leaving her three points shy of the 1000-point mark for her career.
Duff led all scorers with 25, her second straight career-high performance. Richter and Thomas netted 15 points each, while Thomas grabbed 13 rebounds for a double-double.
Wheaton returns to action on Wednesday, January 30, when they travel to MIT for an 8:00 p.m. game. Wellesley has the week off, taking the court again next Saturday as they travel across town to Babson for a 2:00 p.m. match-up.