Women's Basketball (17-11, 9-4) Reaches NEWMAC Title Game, Falls Short of Crown

The Wheaton College women's basketball team saw its run at a second straight New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament title fall short Sunday, as the fourth-seeded Lyons dropped a 51-43 decision in the championship against number-two Babson College at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The Blue and White's postseason began with a 73-61 first-round win against visiting fifth seed Clark University on Wednesday before the Lyons upset the top-seeded Engineers, 62-58 on Saturday in the semifinals. Wheaton awaits a possible berth into the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament, as the Blue and White was the runner up in 2007. In Sunday's championship game against Babson, senior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) became the 10th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

Against Clark, the Lyons overcame a nine-point second-half deficit before a late 10-2 run blew open a three-point game. Senior Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) tallied 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting to go along with seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks, while classmate Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) shot 6-of-9 en route to 13 points. Smith posted 12 points, and junior Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) totaled 11 points and five rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench. Classmate Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) had eight points, 10 boards and two blocks, while junior point guard Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) notched eight assists.

Hickey's hoop with 1:11 remaining put the Lyons on top for good at WPI in a game that featured 14 lead changes, including 10 in the second half. Bailey took over in the final stanza, notching 13 points and six assists without a turnover, playing a role in 26 of the team's 35 points. She ended up with a near-triple-double of 18 points, eight assists and seven boards for the game, going 3-of-3 from three-point range and 7-of-7 at the charity stripe. Champney had 13 points and 10 rebounds, including eight points and nine boards in the opening half alone, to go along with two rejections. Smith added 12 points, while Hickey was 5-of-8 for 11 points with two blocks. The Lyons recorded eight swats, including seven in the first half, and held WPI to 28.8 percent shooting.

During the Lyons' loss to Babson, Wheaton led 43-41 after a Kruse freebie with 6:28 to go and was tied with less than four minutes left, but a 10-0 Beaver run to end the game denied the Blue and White its second straight league crown. Smith was the lone Lyon in double figures, going 4-of-9 from beyond the arc while tallying 20 points, her highest total since notching 25 as a freshman on February 18, 2006, against Springfield College. Kruse turned in seven points and eight rebounds off the bench, Champney had six points and boards apiece, and Bailey totaled eight assists for the fourth straight game.

Hickey extended her school record to 1,540 career points and sits first in career field goals (587), fifth in free throws (269), seventh in three-pointers (97), ninth in assists (238) and rebounds (600), and 10th in steals (188). She and Smith are tied for second in games played (112), while Pleat holds the school mark (113), having set a Wheaton record by appearing in 113 straight games. Champney is first in career blocks (115) and fourth in a season (46), and Smith is second in career threes (164) and seventh in a season (46), as well as 10th in career points (1,013). Bailey is fifth in career assists (332) and has the second-highest single-season total (151) in program history, sitting five shy of a 19-year-old record.