BABSON PARK, Mass. — Sophomore Alessa Mendoza (Yonkers, N.Y.) fed first-year Devon Burke (Newtonville, Mass.) for the game-winning basket with 11.9 seconds remaining as Babson College pulled out a 67-65 victory over the University of Hartford in the seventh Judy Pearson '85 Memorial Women's Basketball Tournament on Monday evening inside Staake Gymnasium. 

Babson, which has won three of its last four games, improved to 6-4 on the season. Hartford, which battled back from a 16-point deficit in the last minute of the third quarter to tie the game in the final minute of the fourth, dropped its second in a row and fell to 3-7 overall.

Graduate student Emily Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) led a balanced attack for the Beavers with 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and a pair of blocked shots. Senior Chloe Perrault (Danbury, Conn.) contributed nine points and eight rebounds, sophomore Mary Kate Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) finished with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting and a career-high 12 rebounds, Mendoza was good for eight points on 4-of-5 shooting along with three assists, and first-year Molly Donovan (Duxbury, Mass.) finished with eight points off the bench, hitting a pair of shots from beyond the arc.

Junior Lauren Sabia (Simsbury, Conn.) led all players with a career-high 29 points, connecting on 11-of-17 from the floor and knocking down a career-high seven three-point shots on seven attempts. Junior Ella Marchesani (Saddle Brook, N.J.) added 18 points for the Hawks, including 9-of-10 from the charity stripe, and sophomore Maya Okoro (Frisco, Texas) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

As Babson was enjoying its largest lead of the game (57-41) with 16 seconds remaining in the third quarter, Hartford began its comeback with a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the stanza and went into the final frame down, 57-44. Sabia opened the fourth quarter with a triple to slice the deficit to 10 points and first-year Gabrielle Matthews (Raleigh, N.C.) hit a jumper with 7:20 to go to pull to within eight. After Mary Kate Flynn scored in the paint for Babson, Sabia ran off seven unanswered points on her own, capped by a three-pointer with 4:30 remaining, to make it a one-possession game, 59-56.

Perrault stopped the bleeding with a three-ball for Babson with 3:45 to go, but Hartford got a free throw and then Sabia knocked down her sixth triple with 1:17 on the clock to pull the Hawks to within two, 62-60. Babson got a free throw from sophomore Rylie Rosenberg (New Rochelle, N.Y.) before Sabia finished off a layup in the paint with 31 seconds remaining to make it a one-point contest, 62-61, and Emily Flynn restored the three-point margin for Babson (65-62) with a pair of free throws with 29 seconds remaining.

Sabia would not give in for the Hawks and hit a clutch three-pointer with 22 seconds to play to deadlock the score at 65-all. Mendozza brought the ball up court and drew a group of Hawk defenders before finding Burke streaking toward the basket and Burke laid in the layup for the 67-65 lead. Sabia had one last chance for further heroics at the buzzer but her layup off the glass bounced away.

After Emily Flynn drained a three-pointer to put Babson up 7-6 midway through the first quarter, junior Taryn Blevins (St. Louis, Mo.) answered with a jumper and Marchesani drilled a three-pointer of her own to give the Hawks an 11-7 advantage. Sabia sank a triple to put Hartford back up by five (14-9) with two minutes to go in the frame but Mary Kate Flynn and senior Allessia Carlo (Carmel, N.Y.) hit back-to-back layups to make it 14-13 Babson after one.

The Beavers opened up a comfortable lead by outscoring the Hawks 21-8 in the second quarter. Emily Flynn started the surge with a three-pointer and Mendoza knocked down a pair of buckets, the second of which started a 11-0 surge for the hosts. Donovan nailed a three, St. Laurent and Mary Kate Flynn hit shots and Rosenberg added a pair of free throws as Babson pulled ahead, 29-16, with four minutes remaining in the half. The teams went back and forth and sophomore Rylie Rosenberg (New Rochelle, N.Y.) hit a layup in the final minute as Babson took a 34-22 lead into the locker room.

Babson outscored the visitors 23-22 in the third quarter, getting five points from sophomore Julia St. Laurent (Greenland, N.H.) and four each from Perreault and Mendoza, while Sabia poured in eight points in the frame and seven Marchesani for the Hawks, setting up the comeback attempt.

The Beavers shot 46.4 percent from the field (26-of-56) and had a 42-25 advantage on the glass. Hartford shot 50 percent from three-point range (9-of-18) but just 39.3 percent overall.

Both teams will be back on the Staake Gym floor for day two of the Pearson Memorial Tournament on Tuesday as Hartford meets UMass Dartmouth at 3 p.m. and Babson takes on UC-Santa Clara at 5 p.m.

GAME NOTES
• Monday's game was the first career meeting on the hardwood between Babson and Hartford.
• Babson is 10-3 all-time in the Judy Pearson '85 Memorial Tournament, including 4-3 on day one.
• Burke hit the game-winner in what was her collegiate debut after sitting out the first nine games while playing on the Babson women's volleyball team in the fall.
• Sabia's seven three-pointers is a Pearson Tournament record, surpassing the six made by Babson's Katelyn Mollica last season and Maddie Clark from Wesleyan twice.