BABSON PARK, Mass. – Senior Sarah Collins (Weymouth, Mass.) recorded 23 points and 18 rebounds to earn Most Valuable Player honors as the Babson College women's basketball team defeated Rhode Island College, 68-54, in the championship game of the 2012 Babson Invitational Tournament at Staake Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Joining Collins on the All-Tournament team were Babson first-year Briana Hunt (Auburndale, Mass.), RIC senior Ashley O'Dell (Lincoln, R.I.), RIC first-year Vandell Andrade (Providence, R.I.), and Bowdoin College sophomore Megan Phelps (Southwest Harbor, Maine).
Collins' game-high 21 points came on 11-of-18 shooting from the floor. The senior tri-captain also blocked three shots and had two steals in the win. Hunt scored 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, first-year Alicia Wilde (Franklin, Mass.) added nine points, and first-year Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) chipped in with eight points. First-year Megan Otto (Scituate, Mass.) finished a solid all-around performance with five points, five boards, and a game-high seven assists for the Beavers, who posted a commanding 52-29 rebounding advantage in the victory.
O'Dell scored a team-high 16 points in defeat for RIC, while Andrade tallied a double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and four blocked shots. The Anchorwomen were held to 34.8 percent shooting from the field while only shooting four free throws in the contest.
Leading by only one at 31-30 with three minutes left in the first half, Babson finished the period with a 9-1 burst to take a 40-31 advantage into the break. Collins started the run with a lay-up at 2:32, and after Andrade hit one of two from the line for the Anchorwomen, Graber hit another lay-in to give the hosts a 35-31 edge with 1:07 remaining. Following an RIC turnover, Hunt drained a three-pointer off a kick-out from Collins to make it a seven-point advantage, and Collins capped the run with another lay-up with six seconds left to put the Beavers up nine at the break.
Babson scored the first three points of the second stanza to push its lead to 12, and the hosts later led by as many as 14 after a Wilde bucket made it 47-33 with 15:32 to go. RIC would chip away at the deficit and eventually get to within seven after an O'Dell offensive rebound and put-back made it 53-46 with 11:08 to go. However, the Beavers answered with seven straight points, including three by Otto and two more from Collins, to re-establish their 14-point cushion at 60-46.
Three straight unanswered lay-ups by Andrade, O'Dell, and sophomore Megan Sewall (Portsmouth, R.I.) pulled the Anchorwomen back to within single digits at 60-52 with 6:33 left to play, but that would be as close as they would get the rest of the way. Babson went on to score eight of the game's final 10 points en route to the 68-54 final.