Beavers Extend Winning Streak to 12, Take Over First Place in NEWMAC Standings

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Junior Katherine Tamulionis (Foxboro, Mass.) scored a career-high 22 points as visiting Babson College built a 20-point first-half lead and held off a late challenge to defeat Springfield College, 74-64, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Saturday morning inside Blake Arena.

With its 12th straight win, Babson improves to 14-2 overall and takes over first place in the league standings at 8-1. Springfield, which had its five-game winning streak snapped, slips to 11-6 overall and 7-1 in the NEWMAC.

Tamulionis went 6-of-9 from the floor and 9-of-9 at the free throw line on the way to surpassing her career high in scoring for the second game in a row for the Beavers. Junior Emily Bonifacic (Allendale, N.J.) finished with 13 points and eight rebounds and classmate Jacqueline Jozefick (Milford, Conn.) posted her first double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 boards.

Senior Payton Ouimette (Medfield, Mass.) tied for game-high honors with 10 rebounds, while classmates Téa Spellacy (Belchertown, Mass.) and Bianca Tomassini (North Branford, Conn.) chipped in with nine points apiece. Spellacy led all players with five steals and Tomassini dished out a season-high five assists for Babson.

Junior Emily Jacques (Auburn, Maine) scored 19 points and classmate Alex Goslin (South Windsor, Conn.) added 15 points and six assists to lead the Pride. Senior Gracie Restituyo (Barrington, R.I.) also recorded a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots in the loss.

Tamulionis, Spellacy and Bonifacic combined for 17 first-quarter points as the Green and White used a 20-8 run to build a 22-13 advantage after 10 minutes. Layups by senior Elizabeth Lane (Skaneateles, N.Y.) and Bonifacic pushed the margin to 13 less than a minute into the second quarter, and the Beavers got three-pointers from Lane and Tomassini while scoring on four straight possessions to take their biggest lead of the game at 37-17 with 6:34 to go until halftime.

Springfield held Babson scoreless for a stretch of over six minutes late in the second quarter and trimmed its 16-point halftime deficit to just six with a 13-3 run over the first six-plus minutes of the third. Jozefick stopped the run with eight straight points, including a pair of three-pointers, and Bonifacic converted a feed from Lane as the Beavers extended their lead back to 52-39 going to the fourth.

Goslin scored seven points over the first 4:10 of the final stanza and Pride drew as close as 57-52 on a layup by Restituyo with 4:12 to play. Lane answered with a pull-up jumper from the free throw line as the Green and White scored on eight of its final nine possessions to put the game away.

Ouimette scored off a feed from Tomassini to make it 63-52 with 3:05 remaining and Tamulionis scored nine points over the final 2:19, which included going 7-of-7 at the charity stripe.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as Babson hosts MIT, while Springfield travels to Mount Holyoke.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 28-12 all-time against Springfield.
• Babson has won 23 of its last 24 NEWMAC road games, a run that extends back to 2016.
• The Beavers are now 11-0 this season when at least three players score in double figures.
• Babson committed a season-low nine turnovers and did not commit a miscue in the first half.