BROOKLINE, MA - The Wheelock College women's basketball team went on a late 10-0 run to pull within nine points before coming up short of Newbury College, 55-42, on Tuesday evening in a New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) contest at Hellenic College's Pappas Athletic Center. The Wildcats, who had held their past three opponents to fewer than 50 points, dipped to 4-14 overall and 3-8 in the league. The Nighthawks are now 9-13 and 7-6.
Junior Maya Spratling (Dorchester, MA/Cathedral) scored a team-high 10 points for Wheelock while adding six rebounds and three steals, while senior Joy Holliday (Milford, MA/Milford) buried a pair of three-pointers en route to scoring eight points. Sophomore Sarah McCaffrey (East Taunton, MA/Taunton) netted eight points in 16 reserve minutes, classmate Keneisha Milton (Boston, MA/Wayland) had seven rebounds and three blocks off the bench, and senior Sharrell Brown (Brooklyn, NY/Progress) chipped in with three assists.
Sophomore Catherine O'Connell (Quincy, MA/North Quincy) led the hosts with 13 points and 16 rebounds, while senior Ashley Monteiro (Cambridge, MA/Cambridge Rindge & Latin School) and junior Morganna Machado (Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) both hit four three-pointers for 12 points.
After yielding a pair of O'Connell buckets to open the game, Wheelock tallied a 12-2 run. Junior Kayla Drescher (Wallingford, CT/Mark T. Sheehan) notched the first three points, while Holliday canned two triples and senior Caitlin Kerr (Attleboro, MA/Bishop Feehan) added a trey during one 2:02 stretch, making it 12-6 at the 13-minute mark of the opening stanza.
Newbury responded with a 10-2 run to go back in front, but a Holliday jumper at 8:42 knotted the squads at 16. From there, the Nighthawks slowly pulled away, leading by as many as 20 points during the second period. Wheelock trailed 51-32 with 6:52 left in regulation before staging their large rally, as Milton scored five points during the 10-0 run, which junior Jo Gomes (Boston, MA/Newton Country Day School) capped at 1:06 with a bucket that made it 51-42, but the visitors came no closer.
The Wildcats will host Senior Night on Thursday when they take on Becker College at 7 p.m. in an NECC contest.