WELLESLEY, Mass. – Five players finished in double figures as Wellesley College basketball defeated Worcester State University, 73-61 on Wednesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.
Sophomore Ava Shane (Plano, Texas) was the scoring leader for the Blue (1-1) with 22 points on 10-of-14 shooting with six rebounds and three assists. Junior Trinity Barrow (Evans, Ga.) came close to a triple-double with 11 points, nine assists, nine rebounds and even added five steals. Sophomore Stacy Chen (Minneapolis, Minn.) and first-years Hailey Moy (San Francisco, Calif.) and Tanvi Agarwal (Woodinville, Wash.) all ended the game with 10+ points.
The Lancers (1-2) were led by 17 points from junior Lena Waldron (Quincy, Mass.). Classmate Mia Haynes (Worcester, Mass.) added 15 points and four steals while Hannah Lomonaco (Northbridge, Mass.) assisted on five baskets.
The visitors rattled off the first five points of the affair before baskets from Moy and Shane made it 5-4. Worcester State built itself back up to 16-9 before Wellesley launched a 13-0 offensive explosion that lasted into the early stages of the second quarter. Chen and Shane both had a pair of buckets during the run while Agarwal sank a triple.
The Lancers regained its footing, tying the game at 24 all with a tip-in from junior Alana Smith (Chicopee, Mass.) with 3:32 remaining in the half. Wellesley narrowly outscored Worcester State in the final 3:32 to hold a precarious 29-28 advantage at halftime.
The teams remained within a possession of one another for the first seven minutes of the third period. Chen hit a pair of layups late in the third to make it 47-41 for the hosts before Waldron scored four straight to cut it to two. A late and-one was converted by Agarwal, putting Wellesley in charge 50-45 with 10 minutes left to play.
Wellesley put itself up double-digits with a 6-0 swing to take a 56-45 lead. Worcester State cut it to 59-53 with five minutes left but never got closer. Wellesley took care of free throws late to stave off any comeback efforts in the 73-61 finale.
The Blue shot 31-for-66 (47.0%) as a team and made the most of 42 points in the paint and 25 points off of turnovers. The Lancers held a 44-31 rebound edge.
Next up, the Blue will play against Thomas College at Colby College as part of the Gene DeLorenzo Tip Off Tournament on Saturday, November 15 at 6:00 PM. Meanwhile, the Lancers travel to Lasell University on Friday, November 14 for a 7:00 tip-off.
