SOUTH HADLEY, Mass.—Junior Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) recorded her second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead a balanced attack as visiting Babson College cruised past Mount Holyoke College, 77-51, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Howard Gymnasium.
With its sixth consecutive victory, Babson is now 12-5 overall and 8-1 in conference play, while Mount Holyoke drops to 5-12 overall and 2-6 in the NEWMAC.
Sophomore Taylor Russell (Braintree, Mass.) finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting and a season-high eight rebounds, while classmate Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) contributed 10 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Beavers. Senior Erin Young (Westwood, Mass.), junior Kristen Ferola (Amherst, Mass.) and first-year Brenna LeGacy (Attleboro, Mass.) each chipped in with nine points apiece in the win.
Senior Amber Legare (Chicopee, Mass.) poured in a game-high 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting and led all players with 13 rebounds for the Lyons. Junior Genelle Green (Windsor, Conn.) added 11 points, while senior Kate Karraker (Morgantown, W.V.) chipped in with nine points and three assists on the afternoon.
Legare made her first four shots and Mount Holyoke built a 13-8 lead on a runner in the lane by Green just 4:16 into the contest. Babson responded with a quick 9-0 spurt that included back-to-back three-pointers from Russell and Young to take a 17-13 lead with 11:55 left in the period. A jumper by Legare made it a two-point game, but the Green and White ripped off eight straight points to push its lead to 25-15 with 7:17 left in the opening stanza.
The Lyons, who shot just 5-of-23 over the final 15 minutes of the first half, got within seven on a three-pointer by Karraker with a little over five minutes remaining, but Ferola and Russell each scored four late points to give the Beavers a 37-25 lead going into the locker room.
The Green and White made eight of its first 10 shots to start the second half en route to building a 25-point lead with just over 13 minutes to play. Consecutive layups by LeGacy, Graber and Cicchetti made it 43-27, and two free throws from sophomore Jennifer Narlee (Medfield, Mass.) two possessions later gave the Beavers a 47-29 edge at the 16:30 mark. Legare cut the Mount Holyoke deficit to 15 with a three-point play, but Babson followed with a 10-0 run that was capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Young and Ferola to make it 57-32.
The Lyons would get as close as 20 on a trey by Green with 10:23 to play in the contest, but the Beavers limited the hosts to just one field goal over the next eight minutes to take its biggest lead of the game at 73-44 on three-point play with 2:49 to go.
The Green and White shot 46.8 percent (29-of-62) from the floor and outscored Mount Holyoke 32-14 in the paint. The Beavers also held a 47-31 edge on the glass and got 44 points from its bench in the victory.
The Lyons shot just 32.8 percent (19-of-58) from the floor and finished 4-of-19 (21.1 percent) from beyond the arc.
Both teams return to action on Wednesday as Babson hosts MIT at 7:30 p.m., while Mount Holyoke visits Smith at 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES: The Beavers are now 33-7 all-time against Mount Holyoke and have won 13 straight in the series going back to 2008…Babson has won three straight games on the road by an average of 25.0 points…the Beavers are now 10-2 on the year when shooting 40 percent or better…Babson, the top rebounding team in the NEWMAC, is 8-3 when outrebounding its opponents…with a trio of three-pointers on Saturday, Young is now just three shy of equaling Caitlin Boulier's '08 all-time record of 172…the Beavers, who are 1-1 when scoring at least 60 points on the year, has won 45 straight games when topping 75 points.