Babson Park, MA --- Senior Emily Bonifacic (Allendale, NJ) scored a game-high 15 points, classmate Jacqueline Jozefick (Milford, CT) added 11 points and Babson outscored visiting WPI 25-7 in the third quarter on the way to a 61-37 win in NEWMAC women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium.
With its fifth victory in the last seven games, Babson improves to 9-7 overall and 2-0 in league play, while WPI slips to 11-6 overall and 1-1 in the NEWMAC.
Bonifacic was 6-of-11 from the floor and added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Beavers. Jozefick pulled down seven boards and both junior Shaye Galletta (Greenwich, CT) and first-year Megan Bauman (East Lyme, CT) chipped in with eight points in the win.
Senior Spencer Vinson (Los Angeles, MA) finished with 10 points and seven rebounds to lead the Engineers. Alex Scariati (Simsbury, CT) chipped in with six points while Maddie Blake (Bedford, NH) and McKenna Finken (Simsbury, CT) each netted five points with Blake gobbling up five board. Alana Keating (Leominster, MA) doled out a game-best three assists for the Crimson and Gray.
Leading 21-19 at halftime, the Green and White opened the third quarter with a 9-2 run that included four points from Bauman, a three-pointer from Jozefick and a bucket by Bonifacic for a 30-21 advantage at the 5:51 mark. The Engineers got back within eight on two free throws by Blake, but Babson first-year Jade Perry (Auburn, ME) converted a three-point play, Bauman canned a three-pointer from the left wing, and Tamulionis buried another triple to make it 42-26 with 2:23 to play in the stanza.
Galletta made 1-of-2 free throws to close the third and then hit a right-wing jumper and a three-pointer as part of an 11-2 burst that pushed the Beavers' lead to 53-28 with 6:36 to play in the contest. Bonifacic and Galletta scored on back-to-back trips 90 seconds later and first-year Samantha Smith (Greenfield, MA) connected on a jumper with 3:52 left to give the Green and White its biggest margin of the game at 59-30.
The opening half featured eight ties and six lead changes with neither team leading by more than three. Perry and sophomore Nicole Hiller (Rocky Hill, CT.) converted back-to-back steals to give the Beavers a 9-6 advantage before WPI's Savage drilled a three-pointer to forge a 9-9 tie at the end of one. Jozefick and Vinson scored six points apiece for their respective teams in the second before Smith put Babson up by two with a pair of free throws 1:06 before the break.
The Beavers shot 36.7 percent for the game and finished with a 45-30 edge on the glass. The Engineers, who made just one third-quarter field goal, went 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) from the floor in the second half.
In a scheduling oddity, WPI's next game is also in Wellesley as the Engineers face the Blue in a 7pm contest. Babson heads to Emerson Wednesday for a 7pm match-up.
Release Courtesy Babson Sports Information