WATERVILLE, Maine --- Colby College's Jil Vaughan (Wareham, Mass.) and Rachael Mack (Augusta, Maine) combined for 35 points and 24 rebounds as the Mules took an important 71-56 win over Connecticut College on Friday night in New England Small College Athletic Conference women's basketball action.
 
Colby (17-5 overall, 6-3 NESCAC), Conn College (16-5, 5-4 NESCAC), Bowdoin College, Wesleyan University, and Williams College all entered the night with 5-3 records in the league. Two of the teams are looking for a chance to host a NESCAC quarterfinal game next Saturday. Bowdoin took a victory over Wesleyan on Friday and Williams fell to Amherst, leaving the Mules and Polar Bears at 6-3.
 
Colby will play host to Wesleyan on Saturday at 3 p.m., while the Camels head to Bowdoin for a 2 p.m. start.
 
Vaughan had 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting, 15 rebounds, three assists, and three blocked shots. Mack added 17 points on 6-for-12 shooting, had nine rebounds, four assists, and two blocks.
 
Jacky McLaughlin (Medfield, Mass.) added 13 points, while Aarika Ritchie (Lee, Maine) finished with eight points and six assists for the Mules.
 
The Mules took a 34-23 lead at halftime and extended the margin to 15 points at 43-28 with 17:34 left in the contest. The Camels, though, refused to fold and used a 22-11 run to cut the margin to 54-50 with 4:52 left. McLaughlin nailed a 3-point shot with 4:26 left to push the lead to seven and the Mules had a 17-6 run to end the game.
 
The Camels' Tara Gabelman (Irvington, N.Y.) played just 14 minutes because of foul trouble, but still finished with a team-high 14 points and five rebounds.
 
COLBY 71, CONNECTICUT COLLEGE 56
CONNECTICUT COLLEGE (16-5, 5-4 NESCAC)
Tara Gabelman 5-6 4-4 14; Jocelyn Summers 3-4 3-5 10; Jenn Shinall 4-10 0-0
9; Caitlin Cimino 3-10 1-2 8; Jeanna Dunleavy 3-7 0-1 6; Carlee Smith 2-9
0-0 4; Kaitlyn Cresencia 1-3 0-0 3; Annie Fierberg 0-2 2-4 2; Kacie Quick
0-3 0-0 0; Tina Seretta 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-55 10-16 56.
COLBY (17-6, 6-3 NESCAC)
Jil Vaughan 8-14 2-2 18; Rachael Mack 6-12 2-3 17; Jacky McLaughlin 5-10 1-2
13; Aarika Ritchie 2-5 4-5 8; Jen Nale 2-4 0-0 6; Diana Manduca 2-7 1-2 5;
Jayde Bennett 0-3 4-4 4; Kelly Potvin 0-3 0-0 0; Gabe Donahue 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 25-59 14-18 71.
Connecticut College...........   23   33  -   56
Colby.........................   34   37  -   71
3-point goals-Connecticut College 4-11 (Jenn Shinall 1-3; Jocelyn Summers
1-1; Caitlin Cimino 1-4; Kaitlyn Cresencia 1-1; Kacie Quick 0-1; Jeanna
Dunleavy 0-1), Colby 7-19 (Rachael Mack 3-4; Jacky McLaughlin 2-5; Jen Nale
2-3; Gabe Donahue 0-1; Diana Manduca 0-3; Aarika Ritchie 0-3). Fouled
out--Connecticut College-None, Colby-None. Rebounds-Connecticut College 33
(Tara Gabelman 5; Jenn Shinall 5), Colby 42 (Jil Vaughan 15).
Assists-Connecticut College 10 (Jenn Shinall 5), Colby 20 (Aarika Ritchie
6). Total fouls-Connecticut College 15, Colby 13. A-500