BABSON PARK, Mass.—Junior Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) scored a career-high 23 points but Babson College's late rally wasn't enough as it suffered a 61-53 loss to Susquehanna University to open the Judy Pearson '85 Memorial Tournament on Friday afternoon inside Staake Gymnasium.
Babson has dropped its last three games to slip to 4-6 on the year, while Susquehanna improves to 6-4 with its second straight win.
Mollica knocked down five three-pointers and added four rebounds and two steals, while first-year Samantha Reale (North Attleboro, Mass.) contributed a career-high 12 points and five boards to pace the Beavers. Sophomores Chloe Perreault (Danbury, Conn.) and Gianna Langone (Ellington, Conn.) grabbed seven and five rebounds, respectively, in the loss.
Graduate student Kaitlyn Lynch (Andover, N.J.) finished with 19 points and sophomore Julia Roth (Allentown, Pa.) posted a double-double with 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds to lead the River Hawks. Fellow sophomore Julia Pinckert (Branchburg, N.J.) scored 10 points and grabbed seven boards in the victory.
Mollica opened the game with back-to-back three-pointers but Susquehanna went 11-of-16 from the floor (68.8 percent) and led by as many as eight on the way to building a 26-19 lead after the opening quarter. Sophomore Carly George (Manhasset, N.Y.) converted a steal to cap a 9-0 run that made it 33-19 with 6:37 to go in the second and Lynch and Pinckert scored in transition on back-to-back possessions to extend the River Hawks' advantage to 39-24 at halftime.
Lynch canned a jumper on the opening possession of the third quarter to give Susquehanna its largest lead of the game at 41-24, but the visitors went more than 12 minutes without making another field goal as the Beavers clawed back into he game. A pair of hoops by Reale cut the deficit to 42-28 with 4:20 to go in the period and Mollica followed up a layup by Langone with consecutive three-pointers to get the Green and White within 42-36 going to the fourth.
Lynch's layup at the 7:15 mark ended the long field goal drought and pushed the River Hawks' lead back to 11 at 47-36. Babson pulled within seven on a pair of free throws by Mollica with 4:24 remaining and got as close as 51-47 on a pull-up jumper by Mollica with 1:28 to go before Susquehanna went 10-of-12 at the charity stripe over the final 80 seconds to put the game away.
The Beavers shot just 25 percent from the floor but went 17-of-21 at the free throw line and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds. The River Hawks, who made just two second-half field goals, shot 35.2 percent for the game and finished with a 46-40 edge on the glass.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday as Babson takes on Oneonta at 2 p.m., while Susquehanna faces Colby at 12 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• Friday's contest was the first all-time between Babson and Susquehanna.
• The Beavers are now 7-2 all-time in the Judy Pearson '85 Memorial Tournament.
• Mollica's five three-pointers are the most by a Babson player in the Judy Pearson '85 Memorial Tournament and her 88 career triples are now good for sixth all-time in program history.
• Friday's loss was just the fourth in Babson's last 24 home games going back to the end of the 2021-22 season.
