No. 21/25 Women's Basketball at Eastern Connecticut State
Saturday, November 12 | 5 p.m.
Geissler Gymnasium | Willimantic, Conn.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 1-3 all-time against Eastern Connecticut State in a series that dates back to 1988.
• Last season's matchup was the first between the Beavers and Warriors since 2010.
LAST MEETING
• Sophomore Anika Chinthakunta led three players in double figures with 15 points to help the Beavers defeat Eastern Connecticut State, 67-60, on November 9, 2021, in Babson Park.
• Junior Kelly Walsh and sophomore Abby Miller both contributed 14 points and senior Samantha Smith pulled down a career-high 18 rebounds for the Beavers, who shot 7-of-12 from three-point range.
• Julie Keckler scored a game-high 23 points, while Jenna Serrantino added 15 points to pace the Warriors, who led by two with less than five minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson returns its top eight scorers and 11 players in all from a team that finished 20-8 and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament last March.
• Senior Megan Bauman (13.1 pts, 4.7 ast, 3.5 reb) earned her second consecutive WBCA All-America honorable mention and All-NEWMAC first-team honors last winter, while Smith averaged career highs of 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds on the way to collecting all-league second-team accolades.
• Walsh (13.7 pts, 3.0 reb) led the team in scoring and shot 43.5 percent from the floor, junior Madison Odam contributed 6.4 points and 6.7 boards, and classmate Rachel McMenemy (6.2 pts, 5.5 reb) shot 46.8 percent.
• The Beavers ranked 44th in Division III in rebounding margin (+7.2) and 52nd nationally in field goal percentage (41.9).
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
• Eastern Connecticut State (0-0) returns its top four scorers and 13 of 16 players in all from a team that went 18-9 overall and finished second in the Little East Conference.
• Senior Anna Barry (15.8 pts, 9.7 reb) was selected as the LEC Player of the Year and earned a WBCA All-America honorable mention, while Keckler (13.5 pts, 4.8 reb, 4.0 ast) garnered all-league first-team accolades last winter.
• Senior Jenna Serrantino averaged 9.2 points and 5.3 rebounds and graduate student Danielle O'Brien (7.0 pts, 3.7 reb) made a team-high 47 three-pointers to help the Warriors win 12 of their final 13 games.
• Eastern Connecticut, which ranked 23rd in Division III allowing just 51.6 points, was picked to finish second in the LEC preseason poll.
LEGEND ON THE SIDELINES
• Head coach Judy Blinstrub enters her 39th season at the helm needing just seven more wins to reach 700 for her career.
• Her 693 victories rank fourth among active coaches and 11th all-time in Division III.
• Since the 2008-09 campaign, Blinstrub's teams have won 18 or more games 12 times and made eight NCAA Tournament appearances while winning just shy of 80 percent of their games.
MILESTONE WATCH
• Bauman, who set a new single-season program record with 132 assists last winter, enters the season tied for 11th place on the program's career list with 275 dimes.
• She also has scored 797 points over her first three seasons and is looking to become the 18th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark.
CHALLENGES AHEAD
• The Beavers are set to face six teams that qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament this winter, which includes three against programs that reached the Sweet 16.
• Three opponents – No. 7/9 Smith, No. 10/11 Tufts and No. 16/20 Springfield – are ranked in both the WBCA and D3hoops.com preseason polls, while Rhode Island College, Roger Williams and Trinity are receiving votes in at least one of the polls.
POLL POSITION
• Babson was picked to finish second behind Smith when the NEWMAC released its preseason coaches' poll last month.
• The Beavers are also ranked 21st in the WBCA preseason poll and 25th by D3hoops.com to begin the season.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
• Babson has opened the season with a win seven times in its last eight tries going back to the 2014-15 campaign.
• The Beavers went 16-3 last season when holding their opponents below 40 percent shooting.
• Babson went 11-0 last year and has 27-2 since the 2019-20 campaign when forcing at least 18 turnovers.
• The Green and White is 49-3 going back to the start of the 2018-19 campaign when holding its opponents below 60 points.
UP NEXT
• Babson travels to Rhode Island College for a 7 p.m. tipoff on Wednesday, November 16.
