BOX SCORE

NORTON, Mass. - The Babson College women's basketball team battled back from a dreadful offensive start to defeat host Wheaton College, 67-63, in a key New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) game in Emerson Gymnasium on Wednesday night.

The Beavers, who overcame a first half in which they shot just 36.0 percent and committed 15 turnovers, improved to 13-7 overall and 6-2 in the conference. The Lyons, who saw senior Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) become the program's all-time leading scorer, had their 14-game conference home winning streak halted as they fell to 11-9 overall and 5-3 in the NEWMAC. 
 
First-year Nicki Wurdeman (Rowley, MA/Triton Regional) led all scorers with 21 points and a team-high-tying nine boards, while fellow freshman standout Kathleen King (Framingham, MA/Framingham) tallied 17 points and nine rebounds. First-year Michelle Kenel (Rockaway Beach, NY/Bishop Kearney) also continued her stellar play of late, adding 11 points, and sophomore Renay Hamilton (Lynn, Mass.) contributed a team-high four steals.

Hickey, who broke Wheaton's 14 year-old-scoring record with 14:24 to play on a three-pointer from the top of the arc, poured in 14 second-half points to finish with 16.  With 1,459 career points, Hickey surpassed Allyson Aube's '95 1,450 points while adding eight rebounds and four assists.  Senior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) added 13 points, all coming in the second frame, while junior Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) rounded out the double-digit scoring with 10 points and a game-best 11 rebounds.
   
Trailing 66-63 with 3.8 ticks to play and holding possession, Wheaton wasn't able to get off a shot as Babson sophomore Becky Bowman (Melrose, MA/Arlington Catholic) sealed the win by recording clutch steal, drawing a foul, and making 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with just under two seconds remaining.  The Beavers led 58-48 at the 2:45 mark and 62-54 with under a minute to go before Wheaton closed the gap.  Smith's lay-up at 23 seconds cut the Lyon deficit to four points before Hickey's lay-in made the score 66-63.  The first nearly 11 minutes of the stanza was tight, as neither squad led by more than four points.
 
To start the game, poor offense for each squad led to a combined six points on 3-of-20 shooting in nearly the first eight minutes of the half, with Babson holding a 4-2 edge.  Following three ties over 2:03, including an eight-all score at 10:05, the hosts rattled off eight straight points in 2:54, as four different Lyons scored for a 16-8 advantage at 6:51. With Wheaton leading 21-14 thanks to a bucket from senior Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) at 1:11, Babson closed the half on a 7-0 run to force a 21-all knot. The Beavers finished the session with a 36.0 percent clip (9-for-25) from the field, but made up for it by shooting 60.0 percent (17-for-28) in the second half.

NOTE: Portions of this story taken from a Wheaton College press release.