Beavers Win Sixth NEWMAC Title In Last Seven Years

SPRINGFIELD, Mass—Tournament Most Outstanding Player Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) finished with seven points, nine rebounds and five assists, and fourth-seeded Babson College opened the game with a 27-2 run en route to a 77-51 victory over second-seeded Wheaton College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball championship game on Sunday afternoon at Blake Arena.

With the win, Babson (20-8) avenged a loss to Wheaton in its regular-season finale last Saturday, and won its sixth NEWMAC Tournament title in the last seven years. Wheaton, which was making its first championship game appearance since 2009, drops to 20-8 on the season.

Sophomore Taylor Russell (Braintree, Mass.) scored a career-high 16 points on 8-of-12 shooting to go along with five boards, while classmate Jennifer Narlee (Medfield, Mass.) added 10 points and seven boards to lead the Beavers. Senior Erin Young (Westwood, Mass.) scored nine points, sophomore Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) finished with nine points, six assists and five rebounds, and junior Megan Otto (Scituate, Mass.) and sophomore Ashley Snyder(Foxboro, Mass.) each chipped in with eight points in the win.

Senior Laura Pierce (Hampstead, N.H.) led the Lyons with 12 points. Classmate Abbie Brickley (Sandy, Utah), the conference's leading scorer, was held to just nine points on 4-of-17 shooting, while junior Kiley Shoemaker (Fayetteville, N.Y.) added eight points on 3-of-11 from the floor.

The Green and White led 5-0 after a three-pointer by junior Marissa Cicchetti (Mansfield, Mass.), and then scored 22 straight points following a hoop by Pierce at the 16:50 mark of the first half. Narlee converted a three-point play, Graber followed with a triple, and Pickering finished off a another three-point play after a Shoemaker turnover to make it 14-2. Young and junior Kristen Ferola (Amherst, Mass.) combined to hit three straight treys to push the Beavers' lead to 18, before back-to-back hoops by Pickering and Russell gave Babson a 27-2 lead with 11:37 to go in the opening half.

Wheaton got as close as 19 on a free throw by senior Kirsten Ferrari (Lynn, Mass.), but another triple by Young sparked a 7-1 run that put the Green and White in front 36-11 with 4:28 to go in the stanza. Oppie Morris (Ware, Mass.) drained a late three-pointer for the Lyons, but a Russell layup just before halftime gave Babson a 42-18 lead at the break.

The Beavers outscored the Lyons 19-8 over the first 10:47 of the second half to build a 35-point lead. Narlee had five points during the stretch, while Russell and Otto each chipped in with four for Babson, which was up 61-26 with just over nine minutes to play.

The Green and White shot 48.4 percent in the second half despite going 0-of-7 from beyond the arc, while the Lyons, who were just 9-of-44 from the floor in the opening 30 minutes of the game, made 10 of their final 16 shots.

The Beavers, who shot 44.9 percent for the game, got 38 bench points and held a 36-26 edge in paint scoring. Babson also scored 14 points off turnovers and finished with a 49-35 advantage on the glass.

Wheaton shot just 31.7 percent (19-of-60) for the game and were just 4-of-14 from beyond the arc after making 13 three-pointers against the Green and White in the final game of the regular season.

Babson will learn where it is headed for the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday at 2:30 p.m.

GAME NOTES: Babson is 40-16 all-time against Wheaton and has won 14 of the last 15 games against the Lyons going back to 2009…the Beavers are also 8-2 all-time against Wheaton in the postseason…Babson has won 16 of its last 17 NEWMAC Tournament games over the last seven years…the Beavers are now 17-2 on the year when finishing with at least 12 assists…Sunday's victory helped Babson reach 20 wins for the sixth time in the last seven years and 11th time in program history…the conference title was also the ninth for the Beavers going back to 1991.