NORTON, Mass.—Junior Elizabeth Lane (Skaneateles, N.Y.) scored all of her game-high 12 points in the first quarter and visiting Babson college raced out to a 24-point halftime lead on the way to defeating Wheaton College, 77-43, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Wednesday night at Emerson Gymnasium.

With the win, Babson improves to 14-7 overall and 10-2 in conference play, while Wheaton falls to 7-13 overall and 2-9 in the NEWMAC.

Sophomore Emily Bonifacic (Allendale, N.J.) had 11 points and six rebounds, while juniors Katherine Tamulionis(Foxboro, Mass.) and Bianca Tomassini (North Branford, Conn.) each added 10 for the Beavers. Senior Brenna LeGacy (Attleboro, Mass.) led all players with nine boards and junior Tea Spellacy (Belchertown, Mass.) dished out a game-high six assists in the win.

Senior Rebecca Olivieri (Milton, Mass.), sophomore Sara McLeman (Auburn, N.H.) and first-year Mikayla Pucci (Hopkinton, Mass.) all finished with eight points to pace the Lyons.

Babson connected on eight of its first 12 attempts and shot 54.2 percent on its way to building a 30-13 lead over the opening 10 minutes. LeGacy scored on three straight possessions to make it 19-8 at the 4:17 mark, and Tamulionis followed a Lane three-pointer with back-to-back hoops to extend the margin to 17 late in the frame.

Wheaton got as close as 15 twice in the second quarter before the Beavers closed the half with an 8-0 run. Spellacy and Tomassini drained consecutive three-pointers and junior Payton Ouimette (Medfield, Mass.) converted a layup for a 44-20 advantage going to the locker room.

Bonifacic started the third with six quick points and Ouimette capped a 9-2 spurt with two free throws to make it 53-22 with 5:55 to go in the stanza. First-year Shaye Galletta (Riverside, Conn.) stretched the lead to 63-30 with hoops on consecutive possessions to end the period, and Babson started the fourth quarter with an 11-4 burst that pushed the margin to as many as 40 with just over six minutes to play.

The Green and White made six of its seven three-pointers in the first half and shot 45 percent over the opening 20 minutes. The Beavers also finished with 21 assists on 30 field goals.

Both teams return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. as Babson hosts Coast Guard, while Wheaton travels to Springfield.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 45-16 all-time against Wheaton and have won 19 of the last 20 games between the teams.
• Babson has won its last nine games on the road in the series with seven of the victories coming by at least 10 points.
• The Green and White improves to 9-1 on the year when shooting better than 40 percent from the floor.
• Babson has now won its last 25 games when holding opponents below 50 points.