BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) finished with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals to help Babson College defeat visiting Wellesley College, 62-41, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Thursday night at Staake Gymnasium.

With the win, Babson is now 9-5 overall and 5-1 in conference play, while Wellesley drops to 3-11 and 1-6 in the NEWMAC.

Junior Taylor Russell (Braintree, Mass.) scored 10 points, senior Linnett Graber (Roseland, N.J.) added eight points and seven rebounds, and sophomore Brenna LeGacy (Attleboro, Mass.) chipped in with seven boards for the Beavers.

Sophomore Kayla Jang (South Pasadena, Calif.) and first-year Brenna Butler (Smithtown, N.Y.) each scored 11 points, while senior Chelsi Scott (Portland, Mich.) pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds to lead the Blue.

After struggling to find a rhythm early, the Green and White ripped off a 20-4 run over the final 7:31 of the second quarter to seize control of the game. Pickering scored four straight points to put the Beavers in front 16-15 and Graber followed with a layup and a three-pointer to push the lead to 21-17 with 1:59 to go in the stanza. Russell made it a five-point game with a free throw and Babson closed the half with four late hoops, three of which came off Wellesley turnovers to take a 30-17 advantage into the locker room.

The Beavers used an 8-0 burst midway through the third quarter to push their lead to 42-23. Blue senior Alex Berman (Tucson, Ariz.) knocked down a triple, but LeGacy followed with a layup and Pickering drained a pair of free throws to give the hosts a 46-26 edge late in the third quarter.

Wellesley made one final push, cutting its deficit to 50-36 on a three-pointer by first-year Ashley Woodbury (Gorham, Maine) with just over six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, but Babson responded with a 9-0 run to put the game away. Pickering and Russell both made two free throws and sophomore Julianna Rosenberg (Verona, N.J.) and Pickering converted back-to-back layups to give the Beavers their biggest lead of the game at 59-36 with 1:48 to play.

The Green and White shot just 32.3 percent (21-of-65), but outscored the Blue 17-2 at the free throw line and scored 30 points off of turnovers.

Wellesley shot just 29.4 percent (15-of-51) on the night, but connected on a season-high nine three-point field goals to stay in the game.

Babson returns to action on Saturday when it hosts Clark at 1 p.m., while the Blue visits Wheaton next Wednesday at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 47-15 all-time against Wellesley and have won 17 of the last 19 games in the series.
• Babson is now 3-0 at home this season and 19-4 at Staake Gymnasium going back to December 7, 2013.
• The Green and White finished with a 46-40 edge on the glass and is now 9-1 this season when outrebounding its opponents.
• The Beavers are now 7-1 on the year when outscoring their foes at the free throw line.