WORCESTER, Mass.—Senior Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) finished with a team-high 11 points and classmate Kiara Simone Davis (Coral Springs, Fla.) scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter to help visiting Babson College defeat WPI, 62-59, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon inside Harrington Auditorium. 

With the win, Babson improves to 10-9 overall and 2-3 in conference play. WPI has dropped six of its last seven games to fall to 8-11 overall and 1-4 in the NEWMAC. 

Mollica tied for game-high honors with four assists and Davis went 3-of-4 from beyond the arc with two assists in the fourth quarter for the Beavers. Junior Chloe Perreault (Danbury, Conn.) and sophomore Samantha Reale (North Attleboro, Mass.) both scored eight points, junior Allessia Carlo (Carmel, N.Y.) contributed seven points and senior Emily Flynn (Hanover, Mass.) led all players with 10 rebounds in the win.

Sophomore Emmy Allyn (Rutland, Mass.) led all scorers with 18 points, while senior Caitlyn Dasaro (Fairfield, Vt.) and sophomore Ava Giansiracusa (Wethersfield, Conn.) both added 10 points for the Engineers. Dasaro also grabbed eight rebounds and graduate student Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, Conn.) handed out four assists in the loss. 

The entirety of the first three quarters were played within an eight-point window with the Green and White leading by as many as six late in the second period. Davis started the fourth with a three-pointer and made her second of the frame three possessions later to give the Beavers a 51-46 advantage with 6:55 to play. Sophomore Allison Fullem (Underhill, Vt.) answered with a jumper to cut the WPI deficit to three at the 4:27 mark but Mollica and Davis answered with back-to-back triples extending Babson's largest lead of the afternoon to 57-48 with 2:45 remaining. 

Perreault canned a jumper to make it 59-50 with 1:53 left but Allyn scored four straight points and a steal by graduate student Shannon Reno (Millbury, Mass.) led to a three-point play by Giansiracusa that pulled the Engineers to within 59-57 with 56 seconds to go. Carlo went 1-of-2 in consecutive trips to the free throw line around a hoop by Dasaro to make it 61-59 with 13 seconds left and Perreault went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe with 3.8 seconds to play after Allyn was unable to get her layup to go. 

Out of timeouts, WPI was forced to go the length of the floor and Reno's desperation three-pointer from the right wing was well off the mark. 

The teams were separated by no more than three points before the Green and White used a 9-2 spurt that included hoops from four different players to forge a 26-20 lead with 1:43 to go before halftime. The Beavers led by five twice in the third quarter but took a 41-39 lead on a layup by Allyn at the 1:17 mark before baskets by Mollica and Reale put Babson back up two going to the fourth.

The Beavers shot 51.1 percent from the floor and 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from beyond the arc to overcome 23 turnovers. They also finished with 33-30 edge on the glass. The Engineers shot 39.7 percent from the field and went just 3-of-15 from long range (20 percent) while committing 16 turnovers. 

Both teams are back in action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as Babson travels to Wellesley, while WPI visits Clark. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 41-26 all-time against WPI and have won seven consecutive games in the series. 
•    Babson is 4-2 this winter in games decided by five points or less. 
•    The Green and White is 7-2 on the year when holding their opponents below 60 points. 
•    The Beavers have won 39 straight games when shooting 50 percent or better.