BOSTON, Mass.—First-year Gena Restiano (Revere, Mass.) scored a career-high 14 points and junior Lindsey Roche (Arlington, Mass.) netted 13 points to go along with four assists, as visiting Babson College buried Emerson College, 74-43, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Brown-Plofker Gym.
With the victory, Babson is now 3-7 overall and 3-3 in conference play, while Emerson drops to 4-5 overall and 1-4 in the league.
Sophomore Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) had 11 points and six boards, first-year Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) contributed nine points, seven rebounds, and a career-high seven assists, and classmate Jennifer Narlee (Medfield, Mass.) tied for game-high honors with a career-high 12 rebounds for the Beavers.
Senior Elissa Chojnicki (Dover, N.H.) led the Lions with 11 points, while junior Kristin Brice (Indiana, Pa.), the league's second leading scorer, was held to eight points on just 4-for-13 shooting, to go along with a team-high 12 boards.
Graber scored the first six points of the game and sophomore Marissa Cicchetti (Mansfield, Mass.) buried a three-pointer to give Babson a quick 9-0 lead just 4:28 into the game. Chojnicki got Emerson on the board, but the Green and White scored the next 11 points, capped by a layup from Roche, to take an 20-2 lead with 6:45 left before halftime.
The Lions, who shot just 29.8 percent (17-for-57) for the game, missed 18 of their first 19 field goal attempts and committed 22 first-half turnovers. Restiano and Graber combined for 19 points in the opening period, helping the Beavers build a 33-14 lead at the break.
Emerson got within 39-24 just over five minutes into the second half on a three-pointer from Chojnicki, but the momentum was short lived as an 18-3 Babson run helped put the game away. Pickering scored eight points during the spurt, and the Green and White pushed the lead to 57-27 with 9:35 remaining in the game following a layup from Roche.
The Beavers outscored the Lions 38-14 in the paint and netted 28 points off 33 Emerson turnovers. Babson also got a season-high 40 points from its reserves, and held a 47-38 edge on the glass.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. as Babson hosts Mount Holyoke and Emerson travels to Coast Guard.
GAME NOTES:
The Beavers are now 1-0 all-time against Emerson, which joined the NEWMAC just prior to this season…Babson, which entered the day ranked second in the league in scoring defense, has held four straight conference opponents to 43 points or less…The Beavers dished out a season-high 25 assists on 29 made field goals in Saturday's win…Babson is now 2-3 on the year when leading at halftime.