NORTON, MA- The fourth-seeded Wheaton College women's basketball team, the defending New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament champion, continues its quest to earn consecutive titles for the first time in 14 years when the league semifinals get underway on Saturday at number-one Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Wheaton downed Clark University, 73-62 in Wednesday's first round.

In Saturday's initial contest, the Lyons take on the Engineers in the semifinals for the third straight season, at 12:00 p.m. During the second game of the day, number-two Babson College squares off against third-seeded Springfield College at 2:00 p.m., with the semifinal winners facing each other in the 12:00 p.m. final on Sunday. The champion earns automatic entry into the NCAA Tournament.

On Saturday, 16-10 Wheaton will oppose 21-5 WPI for the 10th time in the last three seasons. The Engineers won five of the first nine match-ups in that span, including going 3-2 at home in Harrington Auditorium. However, the Lyons hold a 6-2 all-time advantage against WPI in postseason play, including notching a 59-53 triumph in last year's semifinal round. Seventeen of the teams' last 23 meetings since 1996 were decided by eight points or fewer, including their most recent contest, a 58-56 Engineer win in Norton on February 14. WPI also took the first contest this season, 58-47 in Worcester on January 14.

Wheaton is a conference tournament semifinalist for the third straight campaign, the first time the Lyons have turned the feat since appearing in the penultimate round during the first 11 years of the league's existence, from 1986 to 1996, prior to the conference evolving into the NEWMAC for the 1998-99 season.

The Blue and White is among the NEWMAC's leaders in eight categories, pacing the conference in free throw percentage, three-point percentage and assists per game. The Lyons are second in field goal shooting, assist-to-turnover ratio and three-point percentage defense, as well as tied for second in scoring average and three-pointers. By virtue of posting a 9-4 NEWMAC mark in the regular season, tying for fourth in the final standings with Clark, Wheaton's 30-9 league record over the past three seasons is second among the 10 NEWMAC squads to only WPI, which went 32-7, including notching a 12-1 record this winter.

Senior tri-captain Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) leads the squad in scoring (13.8) as well as in field goal, free throw and three-point percentages, and she stands second in rebounding (5.6) and steals (43). The program's all-time leading scorer has 1,527 career points. Classmate and fellow captain Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy), who is 19 points shy of 1,000 for her career, turns in 9.4 points behind 35.4 percent three-point shooting, as her 40 three-pointers this year are tied for 10th in a season in program history. Rounding out the Class of 2009 is captain Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South), who averages 7.0 points and is second on the squad in both shooting percentage and assists (63).

Among Wheaton's upperclassman starting five are juniors Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) and Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford). The team's point guard, Bailey turns in 7.2 points and 4.8 rebounds while pacing the Lyons in assists (135) and steals (49). She is four helpers shy of matching the second-highest total in program history. A 6-1 center, Champney nets 12.0 points and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per contest, and the school's all-time blocks leader (112) leads the league with 43 rejections.

Junior Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) provides 15.5 minutes each game as a key reserve in the post, turning in 4.9 points and 3.2 boards. In Wednesday's win over Clark, she contributed 11 points and five rebounds in just 18 minutes after totaling 12 points and six caroms in 22 minutes during last year's NEWMAC Tournament title game. Freshman Gabbie DePalo (Rumson, NJ/Rumson-Fair Haven Regional) has shot 60.3 percent en route to averaging 4.2 points and 3.6 rebounds in 13.5 minutes off the bench. Senior Lauren Gosline (Peterborough, NH/ConVal Regional) has made good on recent playing time, as the guard shot 58.3 percent (7-12) from beyond the arc in the last four games, tallying 6.3 points in 15.3 minutes per contest.