SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Double-figure scoring from three different Wheaton players lifted the home-standing Lyons to an 81-48 point victory over the Mount Holyoke Lyons basketball team in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday afternoon. The victory puts Wheaton at 7-9 overall and 2-5 in conference play, while MHC is now 0-14 overall and 0-8 in NEWMAC play.
For Wheaton, both Mikayla Pucci first year forward (Hopkinton, Mass./Hopkinton) and sophomore forward Sara McLeman (Auburn, N.H.) each notched 14 points, while McLeman posted a double-double with an added 10 rebounds. Senior guard Emily Cuthbertson (Hudson, N.H./New Hampton School) also notched double-digit points with 11 to go along with five boards and two steals.
Mount Holyoke was led by a career performance from first year guard Raquel Fitzpatrick (Prividence, R.I./Providence Country Day School), who had a season-best 20 points and added five rebounds. MHC had two other Lyons score in double-figures as junior guard Leah Hodges (New Haven, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) and first year forward GraceAnne Woods (Glen Cove, N.Y./Glen Cove) had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Action commenced with a 5-0 run for Wheaton, but Fitzpatrick sunk a trey off an assists from Woods to make it 5-3. Three of the next four baskets for Wheaton came from beyond the arc, which led to an 18-7 advantage. MHC made a push, but the home team extended the lead to, 28-13 to end the first.
Fitzpatrick opened the second frame with a layup, but Wheaton answered with 20 consecutive points, including eight from McLeman. The visiting Lyons fought hard to end the half as Fitzpatrick scored five points in the last minutes to help MHC to a 9-2 run that cut the deficit to 52-24 at the half.
After MHC opened the quarter with the first bucket once again, Wheaton had a 11-0 rebuttal to go up 63-26. Once again, Mount Holyoke stood strong as they ended the quarter on a 10-5 run, powered by six points from Woods to head into the fourth behind, 70-38.
With Wheaton scoring the first point in the fourth, MHC was the team to answer with a run with 10 of the next 15 points to cut the deficit to 77-48. After Hodges hit what would prove to be the last bucket for MHC, Wheaton milked the clock to cement an 81-48 victory.
Wheaton will have a week off before heading on the road to face WPI at 2:00pm, while Mount Holyoke treks to Green Mountain on Monday, tipping off at 5:30pm.
