Springfield grabbed the momentum early in the opening half,
capitalizing on back-to-back threes from Kelly
Murphy (Mechanicville, NY) to take a 17-8 advantage with
14:40 remaining. KD Stearns (Eustis, FL) kept the
Blue close with four points, but consecutive buckets from
Springfield's Rachelle Walker (Lee, MA) pushed the
lead to 24-10 midway through the period.
Wellesley used a 7-4 run, including two of Robyn
Burleson's (Seattle, WA) 12 first-half points, to trim the
gap to 28-17 with 7:33 remaining, but Springfield maintained a
solid lead for the remainder of the period. Shooting 67% from the
field in the first half and 6-11 from behind the arc, the Pride
went to the locker room with a 44-30 advantage.
In the early minutes of the second half the squads traded
buckets until five straight points from Meghan
Biondolillo (Levittown, NY) gave the Pride a 57-38 lead at
the 12:09 mark. Wellesley battled back with an 11-1 run, including
five points from Malia Maier (Torrance, CA) and a
tip-in from Katie Martore (Great Falls, VA), to
cut the lead to 58-49 with 7:00 on the clock. But Murphy stopped
the bleeding for the Pride with a long trey, pushing the lead back
to double-digits. Wellesley kept pace for three more minutes, and
two free throws from Maier brought the Blue to within nine with
4:09 remaining. But the Pride answered with a three-pointer from
Biondolillo and cruised to a 77-61 win.
Murphy finished with 21 points for Springfield, while
Biondolillo posted 16 points. Kelly Slattery (Somers, CT) recorded
10 points, while Meagan Macarthur (Baiting Hollow, NY) and Abby
Connors (Douglas, MA) each added nine. Emily Walker posted a
team-high of seven rebounds while Slattery recorded five
assists.
Maier led the Blue with 17 points while also adding three
steals. Also for Wellesley, Burleson scored 12, while Becca Kimball
(Weston, MA) added 10. Stearns and Ashleigh
Sargent (Bedford, NH) each had six boards while Martore had six
points, four steals and three assists.
2010 NEWMAC Women's Basketball
Championship
Quarterfinals: Wednesday, February 24 at higher seed's
site:
#8
Coast Guard at #1 Babson - 7 p.m.
#7
Mount Holyoke at #2 WPI - Time TBD
#6
Wellesley at #3 Springfield - Time TBD
#5 Smith at #4 Wheaton - Time TBD
Semifinals: Saturday, February 27, 1 p.m./3 p.m. at
highest remaining seed:
Winner #4 Wheaton/#5 Smith vs. Winner #1
Babson/#8 Coast Guard
Winner #3 Springfield/#6 Wellesley vs. Winner #2
WPI/#7 Mount Holyoke
Championship: Sunday, February 28, 1 p.m. at seminfinal
site:
Semifinal Winners
