Box Score BABSON PARK, Mass. – The 18th-ranked Babson College women's basketball team opened the second half with a 13-3 run and then withstood several late comeback bids by visiting Smith College as the host Beavers held on to defeat their New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rivals, 73-65, at Staake Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
 
Currently in second place in the conference, Smith had its seven-game win streak halted as the Pioneers fell to 17-5 overall and 12-4 in NEWMAC play.

Smith was paced by junior captain Lizzy BelBruno (Hanover, N.H./Hanover), who scored 13 points and pulled down four rebounds, and first-year Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill), who added 12 points, four assists, and three steals off the bench. First-year Maddie Page (Arvada, Colo./Jefferson Acad.) chipped in with nine points, three assists, and three thefts, and junior Devon Quattrocchi (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) dished out a team-high five assists while also joining sophomore Sydney Parkmond (Waterbury, Conn./Chase Collegiate) with a team-leading five caroms.
 
Junior Sarah Collins was sensational in the win for Babson, finishing with 20 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, five blocked shots, and five steals while shooting 10-for-16 from the field. Senior captain Kathleen King added 19 points, eight boards, and five assists, and senior captain Nicki Wurdeman chipped in with 13 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks. Junior Allanah Wynn added 11 points, three assists, and three steals for the Beavers, and first-year Mary O'Connor contributed career-highs of six points and four rebounds in a huge performance off the bench.
 
Babson took the largest lead for either team in the closely-contested first half, as back-to-back buckets by Collins provided the Beavers with an 18-11 cushion a little over six minutes into the period. However, Smith answered with six straight points to get back to within one, and the Pioneers remained within two possessions until they finally pulled even at 26-26 on a put-back by Parkmond with 6:20 left in the half. The visitors would later grab their only lead of the opening session when consecutive baskets by sophomore Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) gave Smith a 33-32 advantage, but Babson closed the period with a 6-2 burst to take a slim 38-35 lead into the locker room.

The Beavers finally gained some breathing room early in the second half, opening the period with a 13-3 run that made it a 51-38 with 15:26 to go. The burst featured four points apiece from Collins and King and three more from Wynn.
 
Babson still led by 13 at 55-42 with just under 14 minutes to go, but Smith climbed back into the contest with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes. BelBruno and Quattrocchi each knocked down three-pointers during the surge, which cut the Pioneers' deficit to just three at 55-52.
 
The Beavers extended their advantage again with six straight points, four of which came courtesy of King, to go up 61-52 with 7:30 left to play. After Smith cut it back to four, yet another Babson burst made it a 68-57 lead with 4:18 to go. The Pioneers then made one final run to get back to within four again, as an 8-1 barrage fueled by a pair of three-pointers from BelBruno and a steal and breakaway lay-up by senior captain Ellie Giles (Charlottesville, Va./St. Annes Belfield) (Charlottsville, Va) made it 69-65 with just 1:08 remaining in the game.
 
Both teams came up with big defensive stops on their opponents' next two possessions before O'Connor effectively put the game away with a pair of free throws with exactly 14 seconds on the clock. The rookie guard later tacked on two more foul shots with 3.1 seconds to go as Babson held on for the hard-fought 73-65 win.
 
Smith will close out their season with a pair of home contests - first up will be a visit from WPI on Wednesday, February 15 at 7 p.m.

(Release courtesy Babson Sports Information)