Babson Park, Mass. –- January 6, 2011 — Junior Kathleen King (Framingham, Mass.) sank a pair of free throws midway through the second half to notch her 1000th career point as she led the fourth-ranked Babson College womenÂ's basketball team to a 64-35 win over visiting Springfield College in a New England WomenÂ's and MenÂ's Athletic Conference contest on Thursday evening.
With the win, Babson continues its undefeated season with a record of 11-0 overall and 5-0 in the NEWMAC. It is ranked fourth in the nation in the latest USA Today Division III poll. Springfield is now 3-9 overall and 3-2 in the conference. The Pride has now played three of the top four teams in the nation in that same USA Today poll.
King led all players with 14 total points while also grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out three assists. The junior forward hit two free throws with 12:27 left in the second half to become just the 14th player in program history to reach the 1000 point mark, joining classmate Nicki Wurdeman (Rowley, Mass.) who reached the milestone earlier this winter. Senior captain Becky Bowman (Melrose, Mass.) finished with 12 points, while sophomore Allanah Wynn (Milton, Mass.) tallied 11 points and seven rebounds, all of which came off the defensive glass. Sophomore Sarah Collins (Weymouth, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists, four blocks, and four steals, while Wurdeman finished with nine points, nine boards, and three blocked shots.
Springfield was led by junior forward Kelly Slattery (Somers, Conn.), who finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, and junior forward Sara Plocharsky (Bristol, Conn.), who chipped in with five rebounds and four steals. The Pride struggled from the field, hitting just 21.3 percent of its shots in the contest, including a tough 17.6 percent clip in the first half.
Leading by only three early in the game, Babson pulled away by holding Springfield scoreless over a nine-minute stretch. At the other end, the Beavers scored 17 unanswered points that gave the hosts a commanding 27-7 advantage with 6:44 remaining in the period. Six different players scored during the outburst, including six points on a pair of three-pointers by Wynn. The Beavers eventually entered the break armed with a 31-13 lead behind four steals from Collins, three blocked shots from junior Damisi Adewumi (Bronx, N.Y.), and eight points from Wynn. Babson then continued in the second half, pushing its lead to as many as 36 at 61-25.
Springfield next plays at Wellesley in another NEWMAC contest Saturday at 2 pm.
