For Immediate Release
November 17, 2009
Wellesley Sports Information
Courtesy RIC Sports Information
Blue Basketball Drops Season-Opener to Rhode Island College
Providence, R.I. - The Rhode Island College women’s basketball team posted a 72-53 win over Wellesley in the two club’s season-opening game on Tuesday night at The Murray Center.
Senior guard Alice Mullen came off the bench to score a career-high 19 to lead the Anchorwomen, while shooting 8-for-11 from the field and draining 5-of-7 from three-point land to surpass her previous best point total by one. Junior guard Lauren Harrington pumped in 11 points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists and made two steals. Sophomore guard Stephanie Coro registered 11 points, five rebounds and swiped four steals.
The game was close for the first 6:38 of the first half as Wellesley sophomore center KD Stearns (Eustis, FL) tied the game, 8-8, with a jumper. With the hosts up by five, 15-10, freshman guard Malia Maier (Torrance, CA) sank two free throws to pull the Blue within three points with 8:16 remaining.
RIC once again extended its advantage to eight points, 22-14, on a Harrington jumper with 5:18 left, only to see Maier cut the lead down to three, 24-21, with a layup and a three-pointer, with 2:31 left. Rhode Island College went on an 11-2 run to close out the stanza, paced by two Mullen treys, to lead, 34-23, at the break.
The Anchorwomen scored the first six points of the second half and never looked back. RIC’s advantage grew to a game-high 29 points, 60-31, with 10:54 left. A senior forward Christina Coro jumper with 1:15 left in the contest gave RIC a 72-48 lead, but the visitors scored the final five points of the game to lose by 19.
RIC shot 50 percent (32-for-64) from the field and 47 percent (8-for-17) from downtown. Wellesley shot 43 percent (20-for-47) on the night.
Maier equaled Mullen’s game-high scoring effort with 19 points, while first-year forward Becca Kimball (Weston, MA) contributed 16 points and seven rebounds.
In upcoming action, the Anchorwomen will face Salem State in semifinal action of the Salem State Tip-Off Tournament on Friday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Wellesley squares off against Roger Williams on Thursday at 7:00pm as the Blue play their home-opener.