Wellesley Athletics News Releases

WESLANDER LEADS WELLESLEY PAST WHEATON 67-49

Wellesley, Mass. – Laura Weslander (Mendota Heights, Minn.) scored a career and game-high 19 points, including a 5-for-7 effort from beyond the arc, to lead Wellesley past Wheaton 67-49 in a New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference women’s basketball game, Tuesday at Wellesley.

Weslander’s five three-pointers are good for the second most threes made in a single game in Wellesley history. Weslander ended the game with 19 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals to lead three Wellesley (10-10, 6-6 NEWMAC) players in double-figures. Erin Johnson (Westhampton Beach, N.Y.) netted 14 points for the Blue while Kristen Doeberl (West Redding, Conn.) chipped in with 12 points.

Wheaton’s Michelle Portilla (Queens, N.Y.) led the Lions with 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting while Kate Williams (Portland, Oregon) added nine points.

With a slim 20-19 lead with 5:45 remaining in the opening stanza Wellesley broke open the game on a string of 11 unanswered points on bookend baskets from Johnson and never looked back en route to the win. Johnson opened the run with an offensive rebound and a put-back and was followed by two Weslander free throws before Laura Jasinski (Amherst, Mass.) scored four of her six points off of a short jumper and two free throws with 3:30 remaining. Johnson then closed the run on a three-point play finishing a driving lay-up and converting a free-throw with 2:43 seconds remaining to give Wellesley its largest lead of the half at 31-19.

Wheaton (7-16, 2-9) would cut the lead to six at 31-25 at the half on two free throws a piece from Amanda Dow-Allen (Greenfield, Mass.) and Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, N.Y.) and a lay-up from Kim McCormack (Milton, Mass.). But it was as close as Wheaton would get the rest of the way as Wellesley reclaimed its double-digit lead quickly in the second half as Weslander knocked down two of her game-high five threes in the opening two minutes of the second stanza.

Wellesley held a 39-26 edge in rebounds and shot a solid 45.1 percent from the field on 23-of-51 shooting while Wheaton connected on 19-of-50 attempts for 38 percent mark from the floor. Both teams were hampered by turnovers with each team committing 25 turnovers.

NCAA Div. III Women’s Basketball: Wellesley 67, Wheaton 49
2/17/04 7 p.m. at Towne Fieldhouse, Wellesley, Mass.

WHEATON COLLEGE (7-16, 2-9)
Michelle Portilla 6-7 1-2 13; Kate Williams 3-9 1-2 9; Casey Sorbara 3-7 2-2 8; Taryn Brassil 3-8 1-2 7; Mary Flaherty 1-1 0-0 3; Jessica Pine 1-3 0-0 2; Amanda Dow-Allen 0-4 2-2 2; Shea Clarke 1-3 0-0 2; Kim McCormack 1-7 0-0 2; Bethany Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 8-12 49.

WELLESLEY COLLEGE (10-10, 6-6)
WESLANDER, Laura 6-9 2-2 19; JOHNSON, Erin 5-17 3-7 14; DOEBERL, Kristin 5-11 2-2 12; JASINSKI, Laura 1-2 4-4 6; ALLUKIAN, Alex 2-4 1-2 5; ADASI, Sefi 2-2 0-0 4; HARRIS, Bridget 1-4 2-2 4; ROMASCO, Catie 1-1 0-2 3; SENECAL, Elizabeth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-51 14-21 67.

Wheaton College         25    24    49
Wellesley College        31    36    67

3-point goal: Wheaton College 3-13 (Kate Williams 2-4; Mary Flaherty 1-1;Taryn Brassil 0-3; Jessica Pine 0-1; Amanda Dow-Allen 0-3; Shea Clarke 0-1); Wellesley College 7-15 (WESLANDER, Laura 5-7; JOHNSON, Erin 1-7; ROMASCO, Catie 1-1).

Fouled out: Wheaton College-Casey Sorbara, Wellesley College-None.
Rebounds: Wheaton College 26 (Amanda Dow-Allen 5), Wellesley College 39 (HARRIS, Bridget 8).
Assists: Wheaton College 7 (Kim McCormack 3), Wellesley College 15 (ROMASCO, Catie 4).
Total fouls: Wheaton College 21, Wellesley College 15.
Attendance: 105