WELLESLEY, Mass. -- Becca Kimball and Leslie Leong combined for 34 points to lead the Wellesley College basketball team to a 56-31 victory over NEWMAC-rival Mount Holyoke on Saturday afternoon at the Keohane Sports Center.
Kimball led all scorers with 18 points and also added seven rebounds, while Leong tallied 16 points with a game-high of nine boards. Also for Wellesley, Malia Maier had a solid performance with six points, seven steals, six assists and six rebounds. Rounding out the box score for the Blue, Elisha Orama tallied nine points, while Ashleigh Sargent picked up eight rebounds.
Mount Holyoke was paced by Angelica Pascual's nine points and four assists, while Emilie Methot added eight points and four steals. All eight of Methot's points came in the first half. Annabel Barrett was the rebound leader for the Lyons, grabbing six boards.
Although Mount Holyoke held the Blue to under 22% shooting in the first half, Wellesley grabbed an early lead which it did not relinquish. Maier opened the scoring with a conventional three-point play before the visitors tied it with three from Tricia Chase.
Early foul trouble doomed the Lyons, as the 3-3 score was the closest Mount Holyoke would get to the Blue in the first stanza. The teams were even on the boards at 18 apiece, but Wellesley led by as many as nine points, taking a 23-15 lead into the locker room.
The second half was all Wellesley, as the Blue kept their advantage to at least nine points for the rest of the afternoon. The home team ended with a 43-34 edge on the glass, out-rebounding the Lyons 25-16 in the second period. Leong posted 12 second-half points for the Blue, as Wellesley cruised to a 56-31 final.
The result drops Mount Holyoke to 1-5 overall, 0-2 in NEWMAC play. Wellesley improves to 5-1, 2-0 in the NEWMAC, for the program's fastest start in 10 seasons.
Mount Holyoke continues its NEWMAC schedule on Tuesday, traveling to Clark for a 7:00pm tip-off. Wellesley closes it's 2010-11 home slate on Tuesday, hosting Coast Guard in a 7:00pm conference tilt.