SPRINGFIELD, Mass.— Graduate student Lily Ives (Chappaqua, N.Y.) and junior Jessica Evans (Southbury, Conn.) scored three goals apiece and junior goalie Kathleen Murphy (Scarborough, Maine) made 14 saves as No. 15 Babson College held off a second half rally to defeat No. 14 Stevens Institute of Technology, 11-9, in the second round of the NCAA Division III  Women's Lacrosse Tournament Sunday afternoon at Springfield College's Stagg Field.

With the victory, Babson posted its fifth straight win to improve to 17-2 overall and set a new program record for victories in a season. Stevens had a five-game winning streak snapped and finished its season at 17-4 overall. The Beavers advance to the NCAA round of 16 and will take on No. 5 Salisbury in a regional semifinal next Saturday (time and location TBD).

Junior Amelia Novitch (Dover, Mass.) scored two goals, classmate Kathryn Blake (Medfield, Mass.) added a goal and two assists, and senior Nicole Darveau (Sudbury, Mass.) and junior Michaela Downer (North Andover, Mass.) scored once each for the Green and White. Junior Clare Connolly (Hanover, Mass.) grabbed five draw controls, senior Kayleigh Hacker (Natick, Mass.) had a strong game on defense with four caused turnovers and three ground balls while graduate student Anna Costello (Milton, Mass.) caused three turnovers and grabbed two ground balls.

Senior Emily Leiby (Schnecksville, Pa.) led all scorers with four goals and an assist, graduate student Zoe Cook (Princeton, N.J.) scored twice, and junior Rebecca Guerra (Babylon, N.Y.) collected three assists for the Ducks. Juniors Anna Velardi (Suffern, N.Y.) and Emily Smart (Haddonfield, N.J.) and sophomore Stafenie Sellitto (Webster, N.Y) all scored once, Sellitto had a game-high 10 draw controls, Leiby and sophomore Eran Gleason (Easton, Pa.) each caused two turnovers, and sophomores Felicity Heilferty (Westtown, N.Y.) and Emma Guzowski (Merrick, N.Y.) combined for eight saves in the Stevens goal in the setback.

The Beavers took a 3-0 lead in the first 10 minutes on a pair of Ives goal sandwiched around a player-up goal by Evans. The Ducks responded with three quick goals in a span 87 seconds, one each from Leiby, Sellitto and a player-up strike by Cook. Novitch and Smart then traded goals as the teams ended the opening quarter tied at 4-all.

After Leiby gave Stevens its first lead of the game to start the second frame, the Babson defense shut down the Ducks over the next 18-and-a-half minutes while the Beavers ran off five unanswered goals. Ives tied it up a 5-apiece with 11:19 to go in the second, Downer and Novitch buried player-up goals to put the Green and White up 7-5 at halftime, and Evans and Blake struck to start the third quarter as Babson's lead grew to 9-5 with just under 10 minutes left in the third.

Stevens started its comeback with 8:57 remaining in the third, but neither team was able to score for the next 14 minutes, including the first five minutes of the fourth quarer. The Ducks put together a string of three in a row in a span a 3:15, one each from Leiby, Cook and Velardi, to know the score at 9-all with 6:59 remaining in regulation.

That would be it for the Stevens offense, though, and Babson scored twice to secure the win. Evans scored on a free-position shot for what would stand as the game-winner with 5:30 remaining, and Blake set up Darveau for an insurance marker with 2:02 to play.

Babson had a narrow 28-25 advantage in shots and a 10-8 margin in ground balls. Stevens dominated the draws by a 16-7 count and both teams scored three times on free-position attempts.

GAME NOTES
• Babson is now 1-1 all-time against Stevens in a series that dates back to 2005.
• The Beavers advanced past the second round for the first time in 10 appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Babson is now 5-2 this season against ranked teams.
• Murphy set a new program record with her 17th victory of the season, exceeding the mark of 16 she shared with Sarah Macary, who was 16-3 in 2008.
• The Green and White are unbeaten this season (15-0) when leading at halftime.