No. 11/12 Women's Basketball vs. Wheaton
NEWMAC Tournament Quarterfinal
Wednesday, February 22 | 7 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 50-16 all-time against Wheaton in a series that dates back to the 1977-78 season.
• The Beavers have won 11 consecutive games against the Lyons going back to 2015.
• The Green and White is 10-1 against Wheaton inside Staake Gymnasium since 2010 although early February's matchup was the first between the teams in Babson Park since 2019.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Babson is 7-2 all-time against Wheaton in the conference play although the teams have not met in the postseason since the 2015 NEWMAC final.
• The Beavers have won all four NEWMAC Tournament matchups against the Lyons and were victorious in three of five meetings during the NEW 6/NEW 8 era from 1987-98.

LAST MEETING
• Sophomore Katelyn Mollica poured in a career-high 19 points and senior Megan Bauman finished with 18 points and a career-high 12 assists to help the Beavers cruise past Wheaton, 86-43, on February 3, in Babson Park.
• Mollica was 7-of-9 shooting and buried a trio of three-pointers and senior Samantha Smith added 14 points and seven rebounds for Babson, which shot 53.7 percent and built a 42-18 halftime lead.
• First-year Kiki Walters scored 13 points and sophomore Abby Fernandes added eight points and nine boards for the Lyons, who shot a season-low 25.9 percent.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 11 WBCA/No. 12 D3hoops.com Babson (21-4) has won five of its last six games and closed the regular season by defeating WPI, 86-60, on Saturday in Worcester.
• Junior Madison Odam scored a career-high 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting to lead four players in double figures and Bauman added 19 points and seven assists for the Beavers, who raced out to a 32-10 first-quarter lead shot a season-best 60 percent in the win.
• Bauman (14.3 pts, 5.8 ast, 3.9 reb) has scored in double figures in five straight games and ranks ninth in Division III in assists, Smith (12.4 pts, 7.7 reb, 2.2 blocks) leads the league in blocks and is shooting 61 percent over the last eight contests, and junior Kelly Walsh (10.7 pts, 4.5 reb, 2.1 steals) is averaging 15.0 points over her last three outings.
• The second-seeded Green and White ranks first against NEWMAC opponents in scoring offense (79.1 points), field goal percentage (46.9) and points per possession (1.10).

SCOUTING THE LYONS
• Seventh-seeded Wheaton (13-12) snapped a four-game skid with a 62-36 win at Mount Holyoke last Wednesday.
• Walters had 15 points and four steals, Madeline Duwe scored 13 points and Fernandes contributed 11 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Lyons, who matched their season high with nine three-pointers.
• Fernandes (11.8 pts, 3.9 reb, 3.4 ast, 2.6 steals) is second in the conference in steals, Walters (10.3 pts, 6.1 reb) has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games and first-year Regan Keyter (10.0 pts, 4.5 reb) is shooting 45 percent on the year.
• Wheaton is making its first NEWMAC Tournament appearance since 2016.

ASSAULT ON THE RECORD BOOKS
• Bauman is first all-time in career (420) and single-season assists (145) and career free throw percentage (88.6) in addition to ranking fourth in three-point field goals (87), 11th in program history in scoring (1,154 points), 12th in made field goals (405) and made free throws (257) and 16th in career field goal percentage (44.8).
• Smith ranks fifth in Babson history with 111 blocked shots and her 56 rejections this winter are good for sixth on the Beavers' single-season list.
• Mollica's 46 three-pointers are the most by a Babson player since 2013 and are tied for fifth on the program's single-season list.

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Bauman averaged 15.0 points, 5.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds in five postseason games last winter, while Smith contributed 13.8 points on 57.7 percent shooting to go along with 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks as Babson advanced to the NEWMAC Tournament final and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Walsh averaged 10.2 points, junior Rachel McMenemy put up 6.4 points and grabbed 5.2 rebounds and Odam chipped in with 4.8 points and 6.2 boards.
• Sophomore Camilla Silk averaged 14.6 minutes off the bench and shot 46.7 percent from the floor (7-of-15) and pulled down 3.8 rebounds.

PLANS FOR THE POSTSEASON
• The Green and White, which made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017, last winter was second behind Smith in last Wednesday's NCAA Region II rankings and was the seventh seed when the NCAA Division III selection committee released its Top 16 preview last Thursday.
• The Beavers are 10-4 against teams that appeared in last week's regional rankings, which includes victories over the top-ranked team in Region I (Tufts) and wins over five of the seven squads in Region II with its lone loss coming to Smith.

CHAMPIONSHIP TRADITION
• Head coach Judy Blinstrub, who ranks fourth among active coaches and 11th in Division III history with 714 wins, has led Babson to 10 conference championships since 1991.
• The Beavers have won their last six NEWMAC quarterfinal contests going back to 2009 and have reached the semifinal round in 13 consecutive seasons.
• The Green and White has gone 19-3 in conference tournament games played inside Staake Gymnasium since 2009.

FEBRUARY OFFENSIVE
• Over the last six games, the Beavers are averaging 81.8 points and are shooting 51.4 percent overall and 43 percent from beyond the arc.
• Babson is scoring 1.13 points per possession during this stretch and averaging 23.0 first-quarter points while outscoring its foes by more than 15 points per game in the first half.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 16-0 this season and has won its last 22 games when holding their opponents to 60 points or less.
• Babson is 18-0 on the year when keeping its foes below 40 percent shooting.
• The Green and White is 11-1 this season and has won 14 of its last 15 games inside Staake Gymnasium over the last calendar year.
• The Beavers are 15-1 this season when outrebounding their opponents.

LOOKING AHEAD
• The winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal will take on either third-seeded MIT or sixth-seeded Coast Guard on Friday at 7 p.m.