Women's hoops returns to conference semifinals for first time since 1996

February 22, 2007

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's basketball team makes its initial New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal appearance this weekend, advancing to its first league tournament semifinal since 1996, as the fourth-seeded Blue and White travels to face host Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) on Saturday.

The Lyons and top-seeded Engineers square off in the front end of a women's doubleheader at 4:30 p.m. in WPI's Harrington Auditorium. Number two Mount Holyoke College and sixth-seeded Babson College face each other at 6:30 p.m. in the other semifinal. The winners meet on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. for the tournament crown and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

With a 74-72 victory over number five Clark University on Wednesday, when junior Becky Aitchison's (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) floater in the lane with 1.8 seconds to go handed Wheaton its first postseason win since 1996, the Lyons clinched their 12th berth in a conference final four. The Blue and White competed in each of the New England Women's Six (NEW 6) and New England Women's Eight (NEW 8) semifinal rounds from 1986-96, advancing to the title game on five occasions, the last coming in 1995.

At 17-9, Wheaton looks to match its most wins since 1995-96. The Lyons went 9-4 in regular season NEWMAC play, tying for third in the conference for their best showing since 1995-96 while splitting a pair of regular season meetings with the Engineers. The Blue and White won, 58-53 in Worcester on January 11 to hand WPI what would be one of only two blemishes on its 11-2 league record and one of only two losses it would suffer during the past 18 games. On February 10, the Engineers returned the favor with a 55-50 win in Norton.

With a 19-16 record in league tournaments, the Blue and White is 5-6 in semifinal games. Once in the final, Wheaton is tough to beat, going 4-1 and winning in each of its past four tries. The Lyons are 0-2 in the postseason in Worcester but have gone 5-0 during tournament play against WPI, taking the 1990 and 1995 NEW 8 finals.

Wheaton has been one of the league's best offensive squads this winter and is currently first among NEWMAC teams in each free throw (74.4%) and three-point (36.0%) shooting, while the Lyons are second in each scoring (65.9 points per game) and field goal percentage (43.3%). They'll be facing a stout WPI defense, which has yielded a league-low 47.2 points and held opponents to 50 points or fewer 17 times. The 19-6 Engineers were fifth in Division III in scoring defense entering the week.

Sophomore Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School), the 2006 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year, averages a team-high 14.4 points and was seventh in the conference in scoring entering the week. She shoots 51.7 percent from the field, including 46.4 percent from beyond the arc, and has hit 85.9 percent of her free throw tries. Hickey is also second on the team in steals (43) and tied for third in rebounding (4.6).

The next eight Lyons average between 3.5 and 8.8 points, as 5-8 senior Kim McCormack (Milton, MA/Milton) leads those players with 8.8 points and a team-high 5.8 rebounds. Aitchison averages 8.0 points and 5.5 boards, leads the team with 56 steals, and is second with 66 assists. Senior Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) has provided 104 assists and 42 steals, while sophomore Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford) has canned 32 three-pointers while shooting 43.2 percent from beyond the arc.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/22/07.
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