Women's Basketball (13-10, 7-4) Splits Pair of NEWMAC Games, Falls Into Fifth

The Wheaton College women's basketball team split a pair of contests for the fifth straight week last week, using a late run to push past host Wellesley College, 63-54 on Wednesday before narrowly slipping to visiting New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) leader Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), 58-56 on Saturday. The Lyons' four league losses have come by an average of just 6.3 points. With two NEWMAC games remaining during the final week of the regular season, Wheaton is fifth in the 10-team conference, as the top four each host at least one tournament game.

Senior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) and junior Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) combined to score 12 straight points late in regulation at Wellesley, and Wheaton used a 14-0 run to rally past the Blue. Smith shot 7-of-8 on free-throw tries and scored 14 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, as all five Wheaton starters notched double-digit point totals. Bailey finished with 11 points, seven assists, six boards and five steals. Senior Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) shot 5-of-7 with 12 points, and classmate Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) totaled 11 points and eight rebounds. Junior Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) notched 10 points and six boards, while freshman Gabbie DePalo (Rumson, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven Regional) provided seven rebounds in 15 minutes as a reserve. The Lyons held a 36-34 rebounding edge against a team ranked third in Division III in rebound margin.

The Lyons yielded a go-ahead bucket to WPI with 2.3 seconds remaining before their game-tying attempt at the buzzer rolled off the rim. Champney totaled 21 points to go along with eight rebounds, while senior Lauren Gosline (Peterborough, NH/ConVal Regional) kept the Blue and White in the game by going 3-of-5 from three-point range for nine points. Hickey added seven points, four assists and three steals, while Bailey had seven points off the bench.

Hickey extended her school record to 1,484 career points and sits second in career field goals (562), fifth in free throws (264), seventh in three-pointers (96) and 10th in both rebounds (583) and assists (225), and she needs two steals to crack the top 10. Hickey is the only player in program history with four 300-point seasons, as well as the lone Lyon with at least 500 career points, 350 rebounds, 100 assists, 100 steals, 50 three-pointers and 25 blocks. She and Smith are tied for sixth in games played (107), while Pleat is tied for third (108), having set a school record by appearing in 108 straight games. Champney is first in career blocks (110) and tied for fourth in a single season (41), Smith is second in career threes (153) and needs 49 points for 1,000, and Bailey is sixth in assists (297). With 116 assists, Bailey joins Sharon Morrisseau '89 and former teammate Casey Sorbara '07 as the only players in program history with multiple 100-assist seasons. Bailey's total this season is good for ninth in school annals.