NORTON, Mass. -- Sophomore Erin Young (Westwood, Mass.) and senior captain Sarah Collins (Weymouth, Mass.) combined for 19 points during a critical 21-8 second half run as the 22nd-ranked Babson College women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 59-42 victory over host Wheaton College in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) matchup on Friday night.

Ranked 22nd by D3hoops.com, the Beavers (8-0, 4-0 NEWMAC) remained perfect on the season while extending their winning streak against conference teams to 69 games.

With the loss, Wheaton saw its record fall to 4-4 overall and 2-2 in league play.

Collins posted her Division III-leading seven double-double of the season with 25 points and 15 rebounds while connecting on 11 of her 21 field goal attempts. The senior captain and 2012 All-American also added three assists, three blocked shots, and four steals while playing all but one minute.

Young caught fire late to finish with 17 points, shooting 6-for-13 from the floor, including a 5-for-12 clip from three-point range. First-year point guard Briana Hunt (Auburndale, Mass.) added four assists, five rebounds, and a game-high six steals, while first-year Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) contributed five points, three caroms, two assists, two steals, and a block.

For Wheaton, sophomore Kenzie Kuhn (Glenwood Springs, Colo.) scored 13 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-6 showing from beyond the arc, while also adding four assists, three rebounds and two steals. Senior forward Jana Jagodzinski (Old Greenwich, Conn.) chipped in with eight points, and first-year Kiley Shoemaker (Fayetteville, N.Y.) contributed seven rebounds while leading all players with a game-high five blocked shots.

Babson built an 11-3 lead in the game's first 8:43, thanks to four early points from Collins coulped with 12 missed shots and three turnovers by the hosts. However, Wheaton refused to go quietly, and although the Lyons would never manage to pull even, they did cut their deficit to just one at 14-13 after a Kuhn jumper with 3:55 left in the opening half. The Beavers then received a trifecta from Young, two points from Graber, and four straight from Collins to take a 23-17 edge at the break.

For the second time in the contest, Babson extended its advantage to eight after a Collins lay-up made it 25-17 to start the second half. The Green and White then led by seven, 31-24, with 16:25 left in the game when Wheaton came storming back behind back-to-back threes from Kuhn to close the gap to just one, 31-30, with 14:37 to go.

The next 11 minutes belonged to Young and Collins, who combined for 19 points during a decisive 21-8 burst that effectively put the game out of reach. Collins scored off a Young dish to kick off the run, while Young followed with a jumper and first-year Alicia Wilde (Franklin, Mass.) added a free throw to make it 36-30 with 12 minutes remaining. The Lyons got one point back on a Shoemaker freebie at 9:26, but a Collins lay-in followed by a Young triple increased the margin to double digits, 41-31, with 6:48 to play.

Wheaton's final surge came when Abbie Brickley hit a three-pointer and Melissa McLaughlin tacked on a lay-up to pull the Lyons within five with six minutes left, but Young sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around another Collins bucket to make it a 13-point cushion at 49-36 with 4:23 on the clock. Collins later added another lay-up and senior captain Katerina Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) hit one of two from the line to cap the 21-8 run and give the visitors a commanding 52-38 lead that would never be threatened.

The Beavers will now break for exams before heading to Puerto Rico for two games. The first contest will take place on Tuesday, December 18, when Babson puts its undefeated record on the line against the nation's number one team, DePauw University, at 11 a.m. The Beavers then take on the University of Metropolitan on December 19, also at 11 a.m.