NORTHAMPTON, Mass.-- Tenth-ranked Babson College used a late first half run to pull away, then held off a Smith comeback to deny the Pioneers their first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win, 62-49, on Saturday afternoon. It was the Beavers' 27th consecutive victory in conference play, as they improved to 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the league.
Babson was led by its high scoring trio of sophomore Sarah Collins, junior All-American Nicki Wurdeman, and junior captain Kathleen King. The threesome came in averaging a combined 49 points per game and proceeded to team up for 54 of Babson's 62 points. Collins led the way with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocked shots, while Wurdeman added 18 points and 10 boards and King chipped in with nine points and eight caroms. Senior captain Becky Bowman and sophomore Allanah Wynn each dished out six assists for the Beavers, who won despite being held to their second lowest point total of the season.
With the Beavers holding a 16-9 lead, Jessica Welk drained a jumper and a pair of free throws to trim the lead to 16-13 with exactly eight minutes to play in the first half. Babson held Smith scoreless over the next 6:32, opening up a 32-13 lead before a set of foul shots by Brittany Purington stopped the bleeding. Two more free throws from Devon Quattrocchi and a layup from Rosa Drummond sent Smith (3-4, 0-2 NEWMAC) into the locker room down 32-19.
The Pioneers cut the lead to nine by opening the second half on a 6-2 run capped by a layup by Lizzy BelBruno, but the Beavers stretched the back to 13 on a Collins basket at the 14:24 mark. The resilient Pioneers stayed in the game by connecting on 16 of 19 second half free throws - one by Amanda Zakoske trimmed the lead to 42-34 with 9:26 to play, but a layup by senior Renay Hamilton with 8:12 left pushed the lead back to 12 at 46-34, and Smith would get no closer than 10 points the rest of the way.
BelBruno was Smith's leading scorer, netting 12 points, while Drummond had nine, and a team high five rebounds. Welk and Quattrocchi each tossed in eight for Smith.
Smith will hit the road to face local rival Mt. Holyoke on Tuesday, December 7 at 7 p.m. Babson will host MIT, also on Dec. 7 at 7 p.m.
NOTE: Taken from a Smith College press release.