WELLESLEY, Mass. – Wellesley College basketball fell 62-59 after a strong first half showing against Colby College in a non-conference game at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Sunday afternoon. Wellesley sophomore Trinity Barrow (Evans, Ga.) scored a career-high 23 points in the setback.
Colby sophomore Kate Olenik (Medfield, Mass.) led all student-athletes with 28 points on 10-for-16 shooting, which included six made threes.
Olenik added four assists and three steals to the stat sheet for the Mules (4-7). Classmate Amelia Hanscom (Andover, Mass.) dropped 13 points, converting on 5-of-7 field goal attempts, with six rebounds. Junior Lydia Mordarski (Mansfield, Mass.) came up big with a pair of late three pointers and ended the contest with eight points.
Barrow's 23 points included a 5-of-6 performance from behind the arc. The sophomore registered five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals for the Blue (4-8). Classmate Mirella Funari (Phoenix, Ariz.) put up 13 points with a game-high seven boards and a trio of assists. First year Ava Shane (Plano, Texas) had 11 points off of the bench.
Colby entered the fourth quarter down three points. After Olenik and Shane alternated baskets, an Olenik layup and a Mordarski triple gave the Mules its first lead of the contest at 53-51 with 6:23 to go. Colby expanded the margin to four before a Funari three ball made it 56-55 Colby with just over three minutes remaining.
A Mordarski free throw and a layup from sophomore Ana Von Rumohr (Lexington, Mass.) made it 59-55 at 2:03. Barrow and Mordarski both splashed buckets from downtown before Blue first year Stacy Chen (Minneapolis, Minn.) made 1-of-2 foul shots to get the scoreline to 62-59 53 seconds remaining. Wellesley played staunch defense, forcing a charge from Olenik. While the team got late game-tying shots up from Windross and Funari, neither could find the bottom of the basket.
Both teams traded buckets early before Shane went on a 6-0 run to put the Blue up 12-7 with 2:53 left in the first quarter. Both offensives kicked into high gear late in the quarter, with a late deep ball from Barrow giving Wellesley a 21-13 edge at the end of the period.
The Mules outscored the Blue 18-16 to make it 37-31 for Wellesley at halftime. Funari scored seven for the home team while Hanscom had the same amount for Colby.
Wellesley came out of the break with seven quick points, five coming by way of senior Caitlin Windross (Eastvale, Calif.). The back half of the quarter saw the Mules chip away at the deficit, getting the game to one possession at 49-46 on the back of an Olenik three.
The shooting numbers were close between the two squads. Colby went 22-for-48 (45.8%) from the floor while Wellesley was 23-for-54 (42.6%). Each team hit eight threes and the Blue narrowly won the rebound battle 30-27.
Next up, Wellesley heads to Dean College to face the Bulldogs on Thursday, January 9 at 2:00 PM. Colby returns home to host Connecticut College at 7:00 PM on Friday, January 10.
