Babson Park, MA – Junior tri-captain Kathleen King (Framingham, MA) shot 13-14 from the foul line while totaling 23 points and grabbing 14 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season as she led the Beavers to a 69-37 win over WPI in a key NEWMAC women's basketball game at Staake Gymnasium. With the win, the Beavers are now a perfect 21-0 on the season and 14-0 in conference play while WPI dips to 14-6 on the season and 10-4 in NEWMAC play.
Along with King's 23 points and 14 rebounds, she also added three assists and three steals. Junior Nicki Wurdeman (Rowley, MA) followed close behind with 20 points and six rebounds while sophomore center Sarah Collins (Weymouth, MA) finished with 14 points, six rebounds, three blocked shots and a game high six steals. Senior Damisi Adewumi (Bronx, NY) grabbed four rebounds to go along with her eight points off the bench. Senior tri-captain Becky Bowman (Melrose, MA) finished with a game high five assists.
WPI was led by sophomore Theresa Logan (Southboro, MA) who tallied 13 points and a team high seven rebounds. JuniorLauren Hannmann (East Greenbush, NY) totaled 11 points while shooting 3-5 from three point range. First-year Siena Mamayek (Melrose, MA) chipped in with eight points to go along with six rebounds.
Both teams came out strong having tied the score twice in the first four minutes. The Beavers took a four point lead, 9-5 after King sank a jumper and Bowman capitalized on a WPI turnover. WPI gained the momentum back when they went on a 9-0 run receiving three layups from Mamayek and a three-point basket from Hannmann to give the Engineers the 14-9 lead with 11:51 remaining in the half. The Beavers then went on a run of their own outscoring WPI 23-5 over the final nine and a half minutes of the period. Adewumi scored six of her eight points during this span as the Beavers entered the break with the 37-24 lead.
In the second half, Babson held WPI to a 16.7 shooting percentage while only allowing the Engineers to score 13 total points on their way to the 69-37 victory.
With four regular season NEWMAC matches remaining, the Beavers clinched the #1 seed in the NEWMAC Championship tournament with Saturday's win over WPI. Babson will now host the NEWMAC Championship weekend, February 26-27 and will get a first round bye in the tournament.
The Engineers will host Mount Holyoke at 7:30pm on Wednesday while Babson will travel to Wellesley for a 7pm tip also on Wednesday.