BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Samantha Smith (Greenfield, Mass.) led all players with 20 points and 13 rebounds to help No. 21/25 Babson College to a hard-fought 61-53 win over visiting Roger Williams University in non-conference women's basketball action inside Staake Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Babson improves to 3-0 on the year. Roger Williams has dropped two straight games to slip to 1-2 overall.

Smith finished 10-of-15 from the floor and added three blocked shots, while senior Megan Bauman (East Lyme, Conn.) contributed 13 points and game highs of six assists and three steals for the Beavers. Sophomore Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) added nine points, junior Kelly Walsh (Goffstown, N.H.) scored eight and fellow junior Madison Odam (San Jose, Calif.) and sophomore Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) chipped in with eight and seven rebounds, respectively.

Junior Katie Galligan (Pembroke, Mass.) scored 14 points and classmate Caroline Elie (Rockland, Mass.) finished with 12 points and nine rebounds to pace the Hawks. First-year Sophia Coppola (Madison, Conn.) added 10 points off the bench in the loss.

The Green and White trailed 7-6 after two free throws by Coppola with 4:17 to go in the opening quarter before using an 8-0 run to take a 14-7 advantage on a transition bucket by junior Rachel McMenemy (Northborough, Mass.) at the 2:30 mark. Roger Williams got back to within two late in the period but Smith scored the Beavers' first six points of the second to push the margin back to 20-14 with under five minutes to go in the stanza.

Elie capped a 6-0 Hawks' run with consecutive free throws but Babson got four points at the line from Walsh and a bucket from Smith during a seven-point run over the final 1:48 to stretch the lead back to 27-20 at the half.

Roger Williams pulled within three twice early in the third quarter before using consecutive hoops by Coppola, Elie and sophomore Reese Cordero (Whitman, Mass.) to go in front 35-34 with 3:43 to go in the frame. The Beavers answered right back with baskets by Silk, Bauman and Smith to go back up 40-35 and stretched their cushion back to seven at 46-39 on buzzer-beating jumper by first-year Allessia Carlo (Carmel, N.Y.).

Sophomore Abby Miller (Millis, Mass.) gave the Green and White its biggest lead of the afternoon at 50-41 with a hoop in the paint at the 6:34 mark of the fourth. The Hawks got as close as four twice over the final four minutes but Smith scored inside and Mollica drained a three-pointer from the left wing to make it 55-48 with 1:38 remaining.

Smith scored her final hoop of the game with 1:06 left and the Green and White went 4-of-6 at the charity stripe over the final 36 seconds to put the game away.

The Beavers, who shot 36.2 percent, outscored Roger Williams 32-20 in the paint and finished with a 45-37 edge on the glass. The Hawks shot just 28.1 percent in the loss.

Both teams return to action on Tuesday as Babson travels to Brandeis at 5:30 p.m., while Roger Williams hosts UMass Dartmouth at 7 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 2-1 all-time against Roger Williams and the last two meetings have both been decided by eight points or less.
• Babson has won 50 consecutive games when holding its opponents below 30 percent shooting.
• The Beavers are 24-3 going back to the 2020-21 campaign when outrebounding their opponents.
• The Green and White is 51-2 since the start of the 2018-19 campaign when holding its foes below 60 points.