Balanced effort pushes Wheaton to 5-0 in NEWMAC, Lyons down Wellesley

January 26, 2008

WELLESLEY, MA- Four double-digit scorers helped push the Wheaton College women's basketball team to 5-0 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play for the second straight season, as the Lyons downed Wellesley College, 72-63 on Saturday in Keohane Sports Center. Wheaton is now 12-5 overall, while the Blue fell to 5-11 and 2-4.

Wheaton's first two buckets came from beyond the arc, as junior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) and sophomore Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) connected 56 seconds apart to give the Lyons a 6-2 edge at 18:40 of the first half. After Wellesley responded with seven straight points for a three-point lead, its largest of the game, Wheaton tallied a 12-2 run for an 18-11 advantage and led for the remainder of the contest. Five Lyons scored during the run.

Wellesley edged to within 22-21 with 8:45 left in the stanza, and the visitors later led by only four points before embarking on a 12-0 run that stretched into the second half. Wheaton went 4-of-6 and hit three free throws during the spurt. At halftime, the score was 40-26 in favor of the visitors.

The Lyons led by as many as 17 points at 46-29 with 16:18 to go in the game on sophomore Jenny Champney's (Bedford, MA/Bedford) jumper. After holding a double-digit lead for the first 11:26 of the second half, Wheaton yielded a 14-4 run that allowed the Blue to creep within 61-56 with 4:58 remaining. However, Bailey turned in a three-point play 55 seconds later to put the Lyons back up by 10 and, after the hosts again edged to within five points with 25 ticks remaining, Wheaton scored four points in the last nine seconds of regulation to ice the victory.

Champney hit the 20-point plateau for the second time in four games, recording exactly 20 on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and a 4-of-5 showing from the charity stripe. Bailey added a career-high 15 points and a career-high-tying eight rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals.

Senior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) turned in her second double-double of the season with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, and 10 rebounds. She added three assists and three steals in a team-high 37 minutes. Junior Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) tallied 12 points and now needs three to reach the 1,000-point barrier, while Smith finished with nine points and three assists. The Lyons received only two bench points.

Junior Jessica Duff (Abingdon, United Kingdom/Saline) led Wellesley with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, while classmate Julia Thomas (Concord, CA/Northgate) had 15 points, 13 rebounds and four assists. Junior Courtney Richter (Sinking Spring, PA/Wyomissing Area) hit three three-pointers and notched 15 points.

Wheaton returns to action on Wednesday at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at 8:00 p.m. The Lyons look to run their league record to 6-0 for the first time since 1994-95, when they finished a perfect 7-0 in the old New England Women's Eight Conference (NEW 8).

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