Wellesley Athletics News Releases

WELLESLEY BRUSHES BACK BABSON 45-38

WELLESLEY, MASS. –Laura Weslander (Mendota Heights, Minn.) and Erin Johnson (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) combined to score 25 of Wellesley 45 points as the Blue held off Babson 45-38 in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference basketball game, Saturday at Wellesley.

Weslander connected on three three-point field goals and was a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line en route to a team-high 13 points, six rebounds and three steals. Johnson ended the game with 12 points, four rebounds and two steals as Wellesley earned its second straight win and improves to 8-9 overall and 4-5 in the NEWMAC. Babson falls to 10-11 and 4-5 in league action.

Hampered by an abysmal 13.5 first-half field goal percentage, connecting on just 5-of-37 shots, Babson found itself behind 25-12 at the half and trailed by as many as 12 points late in the game. Babson, however, would claw its way back into the contest, on the heels of a 9-0 run to trail by three points at 37-34 with two minutes to go.

After a lay-up from junior forward Bridget Harris (Newbury Park, Calif.) with 5:46 on the clock, Wellesley went ice-cold over the next three minutes missing its next four shots while turning the ball over two times as Babson connected on nine unanswered points. Sparked by a three-pointer from Meredith Hellen (Somerville, Mass.) and back-to-back jumpers from Sheila Nanjego (Malden, Mass.), Babson closed its 9-0 run on a jumper from Erin Conroy (Old Greenwich, Conn.) to pull to within three. Nanjego would end the game with a eight-points and a game-high 12 rebounds while Conroy added seven points and six boards.

Wellesley’s Kristin Doeberl (West Redding, Conn.) would keep Babson at bay connecting on a jump-shot on an hitting two free throws after an offensive foul from Conroy, to give the Blue a 41-36 cushion with 1:18 remaining. Conroy would pull Babson to within three again nailing a lay-up off of an assist from Hellen with :54 second remaining, but it would be as close as they would get the rest of the way as Weslander knocked down two free throws and Wellesley held on for the win.

NCAA Div. III Women’s Basketball: Wellesley 45, Babson 38
2/7/2004 2 p.m. at Towne Fieldhouse in Wellesley, Mass.

BABSON COLLEGE (10-11, 4-5 NEWMAC)
April Suprey 4-11 2-4 10; Sheila Nanjego 4-13 0-0 8; Erin Conroy 3-16 1-4 7; Colleen Burke 1-13 4-4 6; Meredith Hellen 2-6 0-0 5; Katie McMackin 1-4 0-0 2; Suzy Ward 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 15-67 7-12 38.

WELLESLEY COLLEGE (8-9, 4-5 NEWMAC)
WESLANDER, Laura 3-9 4-4 13; JOHNSON, Erin 4-14 2-2 12; DOEBERL, Kristin 2-5 2-2 6; JASINSKI, Laura 2-2 0-0 4; ROMASCO, Catie 2-7 0-1 4; DIEST, Hadley 1-1 0-0 2; SENECAL, Elizabeth 1-1 0-0 2; HARRIS, Bridget 1-6 0-0 2; ALLUKIAN, Alex 0-1 0-0 0; ADASI, Sefi 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-47 8-9 45.

Babson College           12    26    38
Wellesley College        25    20    45
3-point goals-Babson 1-10 (Meredith Hellen 1-2; Colleen Burke 0-7; KatieMcMackin 0-1), Wellesley College 5-18 (WESLANDER, Laura 3-7; JOHNSON, Erin2-5; ROMASCO, Catie 0-3; HARRIS, Bridget 0-3).

Fouled out--Babson-None, Wellesley -None.
Rebounds-Babson 44 (Sheila Nanjego 12), Wellesley 40 (WESLANDER, Laura 6).
Assists-Babson 6 (Meredith Hellen 3), Wellesley 10 (DIEST, Hadley 4).
Total fouls-Babson 11, Wellesley College 12.