South Hadley, Mass - January 19, 2022 - The Mount Holyoke College basketball team fell to Wellesley College, 54-32, in their second New England Men's and Women's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play of the season, on Wednesday evening in Howard Gymnasium.
Mount Holyoke is now 2-6 this season, while Wellesley improves to 3-9 with the win.
Senior Annika Brooks (Portland, Maine) led the Lyons with a double double of 14 points and 10 rebounds while first-year Marley Berano (Lady Lake, Fla.) had eight points with three rebounds. Leading Wellesley College was Anna Greenthal, who netted 15 points followed by Valentina Morakis with 11 in the win.
Wellesley opened the game with a six-point lead by layups from Sairah O'Brien-Forde, Morakis, and Allison Koziarz in 2:03 of play. Brooks put Mount Holyoke on the board by netting two free throws. The two teams battled to bring Wellesley to the lead, 10-4, at the 4:45 mark followed by three-point jump shot by Berano. Wellesley responded with an 8-0 lead with 2:55 on the clock to finish off the first quarter 18-7.
In the second quarter, Wellesley started with a eight-point run in 4:56 of play followed by two layups from Brooks with 4:04 on the clock to bring the score to 26-11. With 2:24 to go Wellesley netted a layup and freethrow by Caitlin Windross. The Lyons answered with a jump shot from Brooks followed by Wellesley posting a three-point jump shot from Greenthal with 0:31 on the clock. With time running out on the clock, Jiyun Chae passed the ball to Morakis beating the buzzer with a layup bringing Wellesley to a 34-13 lead at the half.
The Lyons started the third quarter with a three-point jump shot from Berano in 0:33 of play while Wellesley followed with two layups from Morakis and Greenthal. The Lyons responded with a pair of jump shots from Berano and senior Kelly Lynch (Quincy, Mass.) in 3:09 of play. Greenthal of Wellesley netted a three-point shot followed by a jump shot from sophomore Isabel Cordes (Yorktown, Va.). Wellesley answered with a jump shot from Windross and a layup from Koziarz. With 0:43 on the clock first-year Cal McGonagle (Yarmouth, Maine) netted a jump shot while Brooks posted a layup with just five seconds remaining in the quarter.
In the final quarter, O'Brien-Forde made a layup in 0:36 of play. Mount Holyoke responded with back-to-back layups from Brooks followed by Wellesley answering with a three-point jump shot from Greenthal. Wellesley maintained the lead with a three-pointer by Koziarz with 5:26 on the clock. With 0:46 left on the clock McGonagle netted a layup. Ultimately, Wellesley prevailed with a 9-6 advantage in the fourth quarter taking home a 54-32 victory.
Up next, Mount Holyoke will host NEWMAC competitor WPI on Saturday, January 22. The game is set to begin at 2 p.m.
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