WELLESLEY, Mass.—Senior Megan Bauman (East Lyme, Conn.) scored a team-high 15 points and classmate Samantha Smith (Greenfield, Mass.) posted her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds as No. 14/16 Babson College defeated local rival Wellesley College, 77-49, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action Wednesday evening inside Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.

With the win, Babson has won two straight and 12 of its last 14 games to improve to 19-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference, while Wellesley dropped its fifth game in a row and fell to 7-14 overall and 1-6 in league play.

Bauman made 5-of-6 shots, including a pair of threes, and added six assists and four steals for the Beavers, while Smith converted five of eight shots while adding five assists and four blocked shots. Junior Madison Odam (San Jose, Calif.) also made 6-of-9 from the floor for 12 points and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double of her own with eight boards and sophomore Abby Miller (Millis, Mass.) chipped in with nine points off the Beaver bench.

Junior Jiyun Chae (Chantilly, Va.) led all scorers with 16 points for Wellesley, knocking down a pair of shots from beyond the arc in the setback. First-year Shannon Li (Los Altos, Calif.) contributed eight points off the bench and senior Pujita Shukla (Austin, Texas) added seven points, all from the free throw line.

After Smith made a pair of early layups to spark Babson to a 6-1 start, Chae hit a three-pointer to pull Wellesley to within two points.  The Beavers came alive and outscored the Blue 14-2 over the final five minutes of the quarter, led by Bauman with eight points, as the visitors held a 20-6 lead after one.

The teams traded baskets much of the second quarter, Babson leading by as much as 17 points (31-14) after a three-pointer by first-year Chloe Perreault (Danbury, Conn.) with four minutes remaining. Wellesley closed the half with a 7-2 run, with Chae scoring five points and capping the surge with a three-ball, and the teams went into the break with Babson up 33-21.

The Beavers turned up the heat in the third quarter to take firm control of the game. Hofer hit a jumper for the Blue to stay within 14 points (39-25) two minutes into the stanza but Babson erupted with 11 unanswered points, thanks for three-pointers by Mollica (two) and Bauman (one) and a layup by Odam to stretch the margin to 50-25.  Wellesley senior Rachel Shurberg (Fairfax, Va.) and Babson first-year Allessia Carlo (Carmel, N.Y.) traded three-pointers in the final minute of the quarter and the Green and White took a 65-37 lead into the fourth quarter.

After Shurberg opened the final frame with a bucket, Babson scored six straight points as the lead ballooned to 32 points (71-39) with eight minutes to play and Wellesley got no closer than 28 points the rest of the way.

Babson shot 46.2 percent from the field (30-of-65) and 38.9 percent from long range (7-of-18) while holding Wellesley to 31.3 percent overall (15-of-48) and 35.7 percent from outside the arc (5-of-14). The Beavers doubled up the Blue on the glass, 48-24.

Both teams play conference road games on Saturday as Babson travels for a showdown at league-leading and fifth-ranked Smith (21-1, 7-0) at 2 p.m. and Wellesley visits Wheaton at 1 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers have defeated the Blue 11 straight games and 24 of the past 26 going back to February 2008 and now have a 54-15 lead against Wellesley in the all-time series that dates back to the 1976-77 campaign.
• Babson has won 13 of 14 contests this season when outrebounding its opponents and has a 36-4 record over the past three years when winning the battle on the glass.
• The Green and White have won all 17 games this season when holding the opponent to less than 40 percent shooting and are 43-4 over the past three campaigns when limiting the opponents to less than 40 percent shooting.
• Smith has blocked at least one shot in 10 straight games for the Beavers, rejecting at least four attempts four times in that stretch. She extended her career total to 105 blocks, bumping her two spots up to sixth on Babson's all-time list.