Beavers Open Game with 14-0 Run, Hold Panthers to Season-Low 25.8 Percent Shooting in Win

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.—Senior Kelly Walsh (Goffstown, N.H.) finished with 13 points, seven assists and four steals and Babson College opened the game with a 14-0 run on the way to defeating Middlebury College, 56-45, in the Shooting Touch Classic inside Chandler Gymnasium on Friday night. 

With the win, Babson improves to 4-3 on the year while dropping Middlebury to 3-4 overall. 

Junior Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) finished with 11 points and six rebounds, classmate Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) added eight points and five boards and junior Abby Miller (Millis, Mass.) and sophomore Allessia Carlo (Carmel, N.Y.) chipped in with seven points apiece to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Chloe Perreault (Danbury, Conn.) led all players with nine rebounds, while seniors Rachel McMenemy (Northborough, Mass.) and Madison Odam (San Jose, Calif.) each grabbed seven boards in the win. 

Junior Alexa Mustafaj (Yonkers, N.Y.) scored a game-high 15 points but finished just 4-of-19 shooting, while classmate Kale Tornwini (Burlington, Vt.) added 10 points and five rebounds for the Panthers. 

Miller and Silk combined for Babson's first nine points, sophomore Claire McCarthy (Dorchester, Mass.) drained a three-pointer from the right corner and McMenemy scored after grabbing an offensive board to make it 14-0 with 3:27 to go in the first quarter. Middlebury, which missed its first 15 shots, finally got on the board with two free throws by Mustafaj with 0:08 to go in the opening stanza and scored on it first three possessions of the second to get within 14-9 following a triple by Mustafaj. 

Carlo responded with seven consecutive points and Walsh followed up a three-pointer by Mollica with her first bucket to extend the Beavers' lead back to 26-18 with 39 seconds to go before halftime. The Panthers were within six midway through the third before the Green and White got a three-point play from Walsh and another triple by McCarthy to stretch its advantage to 38-26 with 2:20 left in the period. 

Middlebury got as close as eight with 7:48 remaining in the fourth before the Beavers answered with a 7-2 burst that included five points from Mollica and a pair of free throws by Walsh to extend the margin to 47-34 with 6:11 to play. Babson went 9-of-10 at the free throw line and did not allow the Panthers to get any closer than nine over the final three minutes. 

The Beavers shot 35.3 percent and finished with a 47-37 edge on the glass. Middlebury shot a season-worst 25.8 percent from the floor and was just 3-of-22 from beyond the arc (13.6 percent) in the loss. 

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson faces Williams at 3 p.m., while the Panthers meet Wheaton at 1 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 4-1 all-time against Middlebury, which includes victories in each of the last three seasons. 
•    Babson has won its last 60 games when holding its opponents below 30 percent shooting and has won 62 consecutive games when its foes score less than 50 points. 
•    Walsh, who set new season highs with her seven assists and four steals, has now scored in double figures in 16 of the last 17 games going back to last year. 
•    The Beavers have won five of their last seven games versus NESCAC foes going back to the start of last year.