SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Junior Payton Ouimette (Medfield, Mass.) and sophomore Emily Bonifacic (Allendale, N.J.) both produced double-doubles, but it wasn't enough as Babson College fell to Colby College, 54-44, at the Naismith Classic on the campus of Springfield College on Saturday afternoon.
Babson, which has dropped two straight games, falls to 6-4 overall, while Colby improves to 5-3 on the year.
Ouimette finished with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, while Bonifacic scored 11 points and pulled down a career-best 11 boards for the Beavers. Junior Katherine Tamulionis (Foxboro, Mass.) added seven points off the bench and classmate Elizabeth Lane (Skaneateles, N.Y.) led all players with three steals.
Junior Katie McCrum (Saco, Maine) scored a game-high 13 points, while senior Haley Driscoll (Bedford, N.H.) and junior Emily Davis (Sudbury, Mass.) each hauled down 10 rebounds for the Mules.
The Green and White limited Colby to just one field goal in its first 17 attempts and got six points from Bonifacic on its way to building a 12-2 edge less than 90 seconds into the second quarter. The Mules answered with a 12-4 spurt before back-to-back hoops by Ouimette and Spellacy put the Beavers back in front 16-14 at the half.
The third quarter featured seven ties and five lead changes with neither team leading by more than four. Colby took its first lead at 22-20 on a jumper Davis at the 6:55 mark, and extended the margin to three on a pair of free throws by sophomore Ainsley Burns (Barrington, R.I.) with 1:34 to go in the stanza.
The Green and White went back in front by one on two occasions early in the fourth quarter, the last coming at 36-35 on a bucket by sophomore Jacqueline Jozefick (Milford, Conn.), before the Mules went ahead for good with a 7-2 burst that included a pair of hoops by Driscoll. Babson got as close as 42-41 on a free throw by Bonifacic with 4:17 left, but Colby went 8-of-11 from the charity stripe over the final four minutes to put the game away.
The Beavers shot a season-low 22.1 percent from the floor and finished 0-of-6 from three-point range. Babson did finish with a 53-43 edge on the glass, and outscored the Mules 26-16 in the paint and 16-4 on second-chance points.
Both teams return to action on Sunday at Springfield as Babson takes on MCLA at 12 p.m., while Colby faces the host Pride at 2 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 3-1 all-time against Colby.
• Babson's two-game losing streak is its first since dropping back-to-back games against Mount Union (December 30) and Tufts (January 5) during the 2015-16 campaign.
• Ouimette recorded her sixth double-double of the season and is averaging 13.5 rebounds over the last four contests.
• The Green and White has scored at least 14 points from the free throw line in seven consecutive outings going back to its November 29th win over Wheaton.