MEDFORD, Mass.—Tufts University closed the game with a 13-4 run over the final four-plus minutes of the fourth quarter and defeated visiting Babson College, 61-50, in non-conference women's basketball action on Friday night inside Cousens Gym. 

Babson has dropped two of its last three games to slip to 2-3 on the year, while Tufts improves to 3-0 on the season. 

Senior Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) scored a game-high 16 points and sophomore Samantha Reale (North Attleboro, Mass.) added 13 points, three rebounds, three blocks and three steals to lead the Beavers. Senior Emily Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) finished with six points and a team-high nine boards, while classmate Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) chipped in with six points on 3-of-5 shooting in the loss. 

Senior Sofia Gonzalez (Glendale, Calif.) scored 15 points to go along with nine rebounds and three steals to lead three players in double figures for the Jumbos. Junior Sarah Crossett (Naperville, Ill.) had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting, while senior Caitlyn O'Boyle (Mahopac, N.Y.) posted a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 boards in the victory. 

Tufts closed out the first quarter with a 7-0 run that included consecutive buckets by graduate student Callie O'Brien (Staten Island, N.Y.) and extended the margin to 19-10 on a three-point play by Gonzlez just over three minutes into the second before the Green and White responded with a 14-4 spurt. Silk got things started with a layup, Mollica knocked down a triple and Reale and Silk converted layups on back-to-back trips to pull even at 21-21 with 1:35 to go before halftime. 

First-year Monet Witherspoon (St. Louis, Mo.) hit two free throws just over a minute later but Mollica canned her second three-pointer of the half with 17 seconds left in the stanza to give the Beavers a 24-23 edge going to the locker room. 

Babson regained a one-point advantage on another triple by Mollica just over two minutes into the third quarter, but Crossett scored eight points and Tufts shot 53.8 percent in the period to stretch its lead to 46-38 on a layup in the closing seconds of the frame by junior Sophia Davis (Piscataway, N.J.). Reale started the fourth with a jumper and a free throw and Mollica followed up a jumper of her own with her fourth trifecta of the game to cap a 10-2 run that pulled the Green and White within 48-46 with 4:29 remaining. 

The Beavers were unable to get any closer though, as Gonzalez answered with a triple to key the Jumbos' closing run. O'Boyle made it a nine-point game with two free throws at the 2:44 mark and Gonzalez converted a layup following a Babson turnover to give the hosts their first double-digit lead of the night at 57-46 with 1:45 left.  

The Beavers shot 37.3 percent and were just 8-of-16 at the free throw line while getting outrebounded 43-35 in the loss. The Jumbos shot just 32.8 percent from the floor but were 18-of-21 at the free throw line (85.7 percent) and scored 16 second-chance points. 

Babson is back in action on Tuesday when it travels to Brandeis at 4 p.m., while Tufts hosts Roger Williams on Saturday at 1 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 12-20 all-time against Tufts. 
•    With four three-pointers in Friday's loss, Molllica now has 139 in her career and passed Joanna Maher '03 for third place on Babson's all-time list. 
•    Flynn has now grabbed at least nine rebounds in three consecutive games. 
•    The Beavers held Tufts to just 3-of-19 shooting from beyond the arc on Friday to drop their opponents' three-point percentage to just 15.8 through five games.