BABSON PARK, Mass. – The nationally-ranked Babson College women's basketball team began the second half with a 25-4 run to pull away from visiting Mount Holyoke College on Saturday, as the Beavers secured their 66th straight New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win, 63-43, at Staake Gymnasium.
With the victory, Babson, ranked 23rd in the nation by D3hoops.com and 22nd by USA Today, continued their perfect start to the year at 6-0 overall and 2-0 in the NEWMAC. Meanwhile, the Lyons fell to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in league play despite a valiant effort on the road.
Senior captain Sarah Collins (Weymouth, Mass.) once again led Babson with her sixth consecutive double-double, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds. The All-American center also blocked two shots and recorded three steals while shooting 9-for-17 from the field and 3-for-4 from the line.
Following a brilliant effort off the bench this past Wednesday, Beavers' first-year Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) celebrated her first collegiate start with a career-high 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting in Saturday's victory. The rookie forward also tacked on four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 28 minutes of action. First-year Briana Hunt (Auburndale, Mass.) chipped in with three points and four rebounds, sophomore Nikki Heavern (Hull, Mass.) dished out a game-high four assists, and senior captain Katerina Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) added four points and two caroms in her 2012-13 debut after missing the team's first five games due to an early-season injury.
Mount Holyoke received 17 points and seven rebounds from senior captain Angelica Pascual (Lawrence, Mass.), as well as 10 points from sophomore Kate Karraker (Morgantown, W.V.). Sophomore Amber Legare (Chicopee, Mass.) bounced back from a first-half injury to finish with six points, six boards, and two blocked shots, while junior Jocelyn Portmann (Corinth, Maine) and first-year Genelle Green (Windsor, Conn.) combined for nine rebounds for the Lyons.
Neither team was able to pull away in the closely-contested first half, which featured eight ties and six lead changes. The largest advantage for either side came when Graber and Collins hit back-to-back buckets to give Babson a 27-23 edge with 1:30 left in the period, but the Lyons closed the half with 6-2 run that featured three-pointers from Karraker and Pascual to even the score at 29-29 heading into the locker room.
The Beavers finally pulled away in the second half, scoring 25 of the first 29 points to build a comfortable 54-33 advantage. After a three-pointer by Hunt and a lay-up by senior captain Allanah Wynn (Quincy, Mass.) got things started, Pascual converted a Green feed to make it a three-point game, 34-31, with 18:04 remaining. From there, Babson rattled off 12 straight points – including four by Graber and six by Collins – to go up 46-31 with 12:44 on the clock.
The Lyons' Jennine Vizcaino (New York, N.Y.) finally snapped the streak with a jumper at 12:16, but the Beavers went on to score eight more unanswered points – six of which came courtesy of Graber – to expand the lead to 21 with 9:14 to go in the game. Mount Holyoke would get no closer than 17 the rest of the way as Babson coasted to the 63-43 victory.
Babson closes out its first semester home schedule this Tuesday, when the Green and White host crosstown rival Wellesley at 7 p.m. Mount Holyoke also returns to action on Tuesday, playing at Clark at 7 p.m.