NORTON, Mass. (Feb. 16, 2013) - Despite a game-best 21 points from senior Angelica Pascual, the Mount Holyoke College basketball team could not overcome a strong Wheaton College front, falling 64-52 on Saturday in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. With the win, Wheaton finishes with a 9-16 record, going 6-12 in league play. MHC wraps-up its season with a 5-18 mark and a 3-15 record in the NEWMAC.
Wheaton opened the contest on a three-point bucket by Jana Jagodzinski, but MHC retaliated as Pascual sank her own shot from beyond the arc to make it 3-all at 17:37. Another layup from Pascual gave the visiting Lyons a two-point edge, but Wheaton battled back to take a 10-8 lead on Rebecca Arnone's jump shot at 14:10.
It remained a close battle until the 12:02 mark when Abbie Brickley nailed a pair of free throws to give the home team a five-point lead (15-10). She helped push the advantage to double-digits as her layup and follow-up free throw gave Wheaton a 21-10 lead with 9:41 to play in the half.
Back-to-back buckets from sophomore Kate Karraker and Pascual made it a 24-17 deficit with 3:55 to go, but Wheaton continued to drain its shots for a 32-23 lead at halftime.
MHC grabbed the opening bucket to open the second half, but Wheaton kept things in double-figures as Gabby Barbera sank a three-pointer to make it 35-25. Sophomore Amber Legare cut the lead to 38-29 and the visiting Lyons continued to chip away as she made another shot to make it 38-31.
Karraker later drained a layup and a free throw at 12:24 to make it a 10-point game (43-33) and MHC pulled to within five (46-41) with 10:13 remaining in the game.
Despite the momentum, Wheaton continued to hit their shots as Kiley Shoemaker sank a layup with 9:43 remaining to make it a 48-41 game. A clutch three-pointer from Karraker followed to bring Mount Holyoke to within four, but Wheaton capitalized late in the game with free throw makes.
A pair of shots from Brickely, who finished with a game-best 21 points, gave the home team a 58-49 lead and she continued to nail another bucket and two more free throws to close out the game's scoring.
In addition to Brickley, who added a game-high 11 rebounds, Wheaton saw Barbera chip in with 13 points, while Laura Pierce and Shoemaker each added 10 points apiece.
Mount Holyoke, which was paced by Pascual, also saw Legare add 13 points, while Karraker had 11 points in the game.
Photo courtesy of Frank Poulin Sports Photography.
