CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Sophomore Keneisha Milton (Boston, MA/Wayland) neared a triple-double while scoring the go-ahead bucket with 2:48 remaining before the Wheelock College women's basketball team pulled away for a 50-42 victory over Southern Vermont College during each team's New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) opener on Tuesday at Pine Manor College's Brunelli Court. The Wildcats moved to 1-4 overall, while the Mountaineers slipped to 2-4.
Milton came within one point of matching her career high, finishing with 14 to go along with 15 rebounds and a career-best seven steals. Junior Maya Spratling (Dorchester, MA/Cathedral) added a game- and career-high 17 points in addition to hauling in seven boards. The hosts held a 42-29 advantage on the glass, including 19-8 at the offensive end, leading to a critical 10-0 edge in second-chance points. Senior Joy Holliday (Milford, MA/Milford) had eight points, while junior Kayla Drescher (Wallingford, CT/Mark T. Sheehan) notched eight rebounds, four steals and three assists.
Junior Rita Hall (Temple Hills, MD/Potomac) paced Southern Vermont with 12 points, while classmate Joa Claircius (Clermont, FL/East Ridge) approached a double-double with nine points and seven steals. Freshman Abby Riedel (New Boston, NH/Goffstown) added nine rebounds and three blocks off the bench.
The teams played through eight lead changes and five ties alone during the second stanza, as neither led by more than three points until the final minute of regulation. Hall's three-point play gave the visitors a 30-27 edge at 16:20, but Spratling scored the next three points before a Milton jumper provided Wheelock a two-point advantage with 14:12 remaining. Between the 8:08 and 2:48 marks, the squads traded the lead six times, as Milton's offensive board and put-back gave Wheelock the final advantage of the game. The Mountaineers followed with three missed shots and a pair of turnovers in a matter of 57 seconds while trying to take the lead back, and the hosts iced the game by shooting 9-for-12 from the charity stripe in the final 1:33.
In the opening stanza, Southern Vermont forged ahead by ahead by a 15-8 count with 9:16 left in the period, as junior Alyssa Davis (West Burke, VT/Lyndon Institute) triggered an 8-2 run with four points. However, the Wildcats countered with the next 13 points in a 3:27 stretch, grabbing a 21-15 advantage on senior Caitlin Kerr's (Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) three-pointer at 4:31. Later, consecutive Spratling buckets pushed Wheelock's lead to eight before Davis buried a three just before the buzzer to make it 25-20 at halftime.
Wheelock hits the road for its next three contests, taking on Bay Path College on Saturday in an NECC contest at 5 p.m.