Wellesley Secures Third Seed In NEWMAC Tournament

WELLESLEY, MA - Junior guard Kate Lyren scored a game-high 18 points as the Wellesley College basketball team defeated Smith, 85-38, Saturday evening in the final NEWMAC regular season game of the year.

In the process, Wellesley (14-7 overall, 6-3 NEWMAC) secured the third seed and a home game in next week's NEWMAC Tournament. Wellesley will host Wheaton, the No. 6 seed, Tuesday at 7 p.m. Smith (1-8, 8-16) did not qualify for the tournament.

Lyren was one of four Wellesley players in double figures. Junior Christine Carbonello scored 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 performance from behind the 3-point arc. Senior Jane Gooding posted 13, while first-year Erin Johnson added 10.

Wellesley, which ran out to a 46-21 lead the half, did much of its damage from the outside, hitting nine of 14 (64.3 percent) 3-point field goal attempts.

Emmi Connolly paced Smith with a team-high 14 points, hitting four of six from behind the 3-point arc.

Wellesley controlled the boards by a 29-23 margin. Defensively, junior Kelly Grover had five blocked shots.