Women's Basketball (9-6, 3-1) Splits Pair of Road Games at NEWMAC Foes

The Wheaton College women's basketball team went 1-1 last week, suffering a rare New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) loss on Wednesday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 58-47 before rebounding with a 65-41 triumph at Smith College on Saturday. The Lyons are 18-2 in their most recent 20 contests against conference foes.

Wheaton's loss to WPI marked the seventh time in the last nine meetings that neither team reached 60 points and was the 11th game decided by 11 points or fewer in the past 12 series contests. The Lyons held a 25-24 edge at halftime and finished the game shooting 45.2 percent. Senior Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) shot 5-of-9 to finish with 13 points and six rebounds, while classmate Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) had 12 points and two blocks. Junior Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) added nine points and two rejections.

Against Smith, the Lyons held a 23-22 edge before scoring 18 straight points to end the first half, sparking a 30-4 run to help Wheaton win in Northampton for the first time since 2003. Champney shot 8-of-12 and finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks during her sixth career double-double, which she needed just 24 minutes to record. Hickey went 4-of-6 for nine points, junior Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) had eight points, seven assists and five rebounds, while Smith added eight points. In becoming the 15th player in program history to play in 100 games, senior Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) tallied six points and three helpers, while junior Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) totaled nine points and four boards in 15 minutes.

Hickey is second in program history in career points (1,400), sitting 50 shy of Allyson Aube's '95 record of 1,450. She is also second in field goals (535), fifth in free throws (239) and seventh in three-pointers (91). Champney is first in career blocks (100) and seventh in a single season (31), Smith is third in career threes (137) and Bailey is seventh in assists (257).