NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College women's basketball posted a 91-48 victory over Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon inside Emerson Gymnasium. Senior guard Amber Legare pulled down a team-high 20 points for MHC.
Junior guard Rebecca Arnone (Litchfield, N.H./Campbell) poured in a career-high 26 points for Wheaton on 9-for-10 shooting from the field, 6-for-7 from behind the arc and 2-for-4 from the free throw line. She also chipped in with six boards and dished out five assists. Classmate Kiley Shoemaker (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) netted 10 points, handed out three assists and recorded a pair of blocks, while senior forward Abbie Brickley (Sandy, Utah/Skyline) added 23 points and six rebounds to the mix.
Legare (Chicopee, Mass./Chicopee Comprehensive) pulled down five caroms in addition to her team-best 20 points, while classmate Nicole DeMarchena (Miami, Fla./Amherst Regional) added six points, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and stole the ball three times. Senior Kate Karraker (Morgantown, W.V./Taft School) poured in 19 points and handed out three assists.
Wheaton opened the game with a 13-5 spurt that was sparked by Laura Pierce's (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) opening three-pointer and was followed by a pair of layups from Shoemaker, a layup and free-throw from Brickley and Arnone's first of six threes of the game. Mount Holyoke put an end to the run with a layup from Legare at 14:46. Five of the next six shots from the Blue and White came from behind the arc to extend their lead to 32-12 with 8:21 remaining in the first stanza.
Mount Holyoke went on a 10-6 run, which featured two deep three-pointers and a layup from Karraker, and a layup from DeMarchena over the final 3:50 to close out the first, 51-26, in favor of Wheaton.
The second stanza saw Wheaton extend its lead to 34 points (66-32) with 14:58 remaining in the game after a fast-break layup by Shoemaker. Mount Holyoke went on a quick 7-4 run that was capped with a pair of good free throws from Legare, but this was as close as the visitors would get (73-43) as Wheaton went on to score 18 of the final 23 points to close out the game by a final of 91-48
Wheaton tied a record with 13 three-pointers in a game which dates back to when they netted 13 against Bridgewater State on January 2, 2011 and 13 against Coast Guard on January 14, 1997. Prior to today's 13 three-point effort Wheaton has scored 10 or more threes in a game this season which includes 11 against Suffolk on November 16, ten at Newbury on November 19, and 12 against Clark on December 3.
Wheaton shot 52.4-percent (33-for-63) from the field, 59.1-percent (13-for-22) from deep range and 80.0-percent from the free throw line. Mount Holyoke shot 30.2-percent (19-for-63) from the floor, 25.0-percent (5-for-20) from behind the three-point line and 38.5-percent (5-for-13) from the charity stripe. Wheaton held a 29-10 advantage in points off of turnovers and a 40-26 margin in points in the paint. Mount Holyoke claimed a 13-12 total in second chance points.
Wheaton (6-5, 2-1 NEWMAC) returns to action on Wednesday when the Lyons host conference opponent MIT at 7 p.m., while Mount Holyoke (2-8, 0-2 NEWMAC) heads home to take on NEWMAC foe Clark University for a 7 p.m. tip-off.
Game story courtesy of Wheaton Sports Information.
