Lyons and Bantams set to meet in Wheaton New Year's Tournament final

January 3, 2008

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's basketball team advanced to the championship game of its first New Year's Tournament Thursday night thanks to a 73-41 victory over Lesley University in Emerson Gymnasium during the teams' first meeting. The Lyons, who are now 6-4, will meet 7-1 Trinity College, 74-69 winners over 3-5 Emerson College in tonight's nightcap. Lesley fell to 5-3 with the loss.

Trailing 6-5 after 2:33 elapsed in the opening half, Wheaton tallied 15 unanswered points during a 2:30 spurt to lead 20-6 with 14:21 left. Sophomore Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) turned in eight points during the run. The Lyons outscored the Lynx, 38-9 over 13:07, taking advantage of points off turnovers while holding a commanding 43-15 advantage at the 3:44 mark. Wheaton carried a 47-19 lead into the locker room, as the hosts scored 21 points off 16 Lesley miscues. Senior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) led the Lyons with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with a team-high five boards.

Wheaton extended its lead to as many as 33 points during a low-scoring second half, as the hosts held a 26-22 edge on the scoreboard. Aitchison finished with game highs of 19 points and four steals to go along with seven rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes. Sophomore Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) turned in 12 points in 12 minutes off the bench, while classmate Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) had nine points, six boards and two blocks. Bailey finished with eight points and four assists. For Lesley, freshman Brianne Caira (Pelham, NH/Pelham) had 11 points and eight rebounds, including six on the offensive end. Wheaton ended up with 14 steals off of 29 Lynx turnovers.

Trinity never trailed in the second contest of the evening and narrowly pulled away at the end of regulation. After the second tie of the opening stanza, 9-9 with less than 14 minutes left, the Bantams scored 14 of the game's next 16 points to earn their largest edge of the period, 23-11 at 9:45. Six different players contributed baskets during the run. Emerson trimmed its deficit to 33-30 with a little more than a minute left in the half, but its 20th turnover of the period gave the ball back to Trinity, which tallied the final five points.

The Bantams knocked down the first two baskets of the second stanza to go up by 12, and after the Lions made it 46-39 at 16:05, Trinity maintained a double-digit lead for much of the remainder of the contest until late. Emerson twice hit baskets during the final 2:18 to make it a five-point game, and senior Lindsay DeStefano's (Glocester, RI/Ponaganset) step-back three brought her team within 70-67 with 48 seconds left. DeStefano later picked off an inbounds pass, and her team went to the line with a chance to cut into its three-point deficit, but the Lions missed two free throw tries before the Bantams scored on a breakaway.

Sophomore Claire Arnstein (Hicksville, NY/Holy Trinity Diocesan) notched 14 points, seven assists and six steals to lead Trinity, while classmate Kristen Liska (Falmouth, MA/Falmouth) had 11 points. Junior Lauren Vassallo (Oxford, CT/Seymour) recorded a double-double for Emerson with 10 points and 13 rebounds, DeStefano had a game-high 16 points, and junior Maude Okrah (Rutland, MA/Notre Dame Academy) tallied 14 points and six assists.

Tomorrow's action begins with the consolation game at 5:30 p.m. between Emerson and Lesley. The championship contest featuring Wheaton and Trinity is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.

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