WATERVILLE, Maine—Sophomore Lydia Mordarski (Mansfield, Mass.) led five players in double figures and Colby College closed the third quarter with a 13-3 run on the way to defeating No. 13 D3hoops.com/No. 15 WBCA Babson College, 74-58, in the championship game of the Colby Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday afternoon inside the Margaret M. Crook Center. 

Babson, which had its two-game winning streak snapped, is now 2-2 on the year. Colby has won three consecutive games to improve to 4-1 overall. 

Senior Kelly Walsh (Goffstown, N.H.) scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the second half and also grabbed seven rebounds to pace the Beavers. Junior Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) knocked down five three-pointers and matched her career high with 19 points, while classmate Abby Miller (Millis, Mass.) added eight points and a game-high five assists. 

First-years Kate Olenik (Medfield, Mass.) and Amelia Hanscom (Andover, Mass.) both scored 13 points, classmate Ana Von Rumohr (Lexington, Mass.) had 12 and sophomore Chelsea Ibenegbu (Staten Island, N.Y.) chipped in with 11 points for the Mules. 

The Green and White scored on its first three possessions to lead 7-5 less than 90 seconds into the contest but made just three field goals over the next 10 minutes and trailed 26-15 with 4:27 to go in the second quarter after Hanscom knocked down a three-pointer. The Beavers pulled within 27-20 on a triple by Mollica with 2:15 left in the stanza, but Ibenegbu answered with a layup and Mordarski drilled a three-pointer to push Colby's advantage back to 33-23 at the half. 

Down 10 almost three minutes into the third quarter, Babson went on a 10-2 run that included three-pointers by both Walsh and Mollica to pull within 39-37 with 4:57 to go in the period. Mollica canned another triple just over a minute later before the Mules responded with a 10-0 run to extend their lead back to 12 on a bucket by Mordarski late in the stanza. 

The Beavers got as close as seven twice early in the fourth, the last coming after a layup by junior Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) to make it 56-49 with 7:33 remaining. Von Rumohr and Olenik responded by scoring 13 of Colby's next 15 points while Babson made just one field goal over a stretch of five-plus minutes as the hosts extended the margin to 71-53 with 2:16 to play. 

The Beavers shot 37.9 percent from the floor and were just 6-of-23 (26.1 percent) from beyond the arc in the loss. The Mules shot 46.7 percent for the game, outscored the Green and White 40-26 in the paint and finished with a slim 32-30 edge on the glass. 

Both teams return to action on Tuesday at 5 p.m. as Babson welcomes Brandeis to Staake Gymnasium for its home opener, while Colby travels across town to take on Thomas. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 3-2 all-time against Colby but have dropped two straight games in the series. 
•    Mollica has scored in double figures in all of Babson's first four games and is shooting 50 percent (14-of-28) from beyond the arc. 
•    The Beavers have scored 63 points or fewer in seven of their last eight losses going back to the start of last season.