Wheaton women hand NEWMAC leader Springfield first loss of season, freshmen Smith, Hickey lead five double-figure scorers

February 18, 2006

NORTON, MA- Freshmen Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) and Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) combined for 49 points as the Wheaton College women's basketball team scored the first eight points of the second half to turn a 38-28 halftime lead into an 18-point advantage, and the Lyons handed New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) leader Springfield College its first league loss of the season, 85-73 on Saturday afternoon in Emerson Gymnasium.

With the victory, Wheaton matched its highest win total since the 1999-2000 season in improving to 14-11 overall and 6-7 in the NEWMAC. The Lyons will hold down the seventh seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Tournament and travel to Mount Holyoke College in Tuesday's first round at 7:00 p.m. The Pride, which was looking to become the eighth perfect team since the conference was established as the NEW 6 in 1985-86, fell to 19-6 and 12-1 in conference play and enters the conference tourney as the league's top seed and regular season champion.

After a back-and-forth opening to the first half that saw Springfield take a 6-5 lead with 17:09 on the clock, Wheaton used a 12-0 run over a 4:24 stretch to capture a 17-6 advantage. Smith tallied 10 of Wheaton's first 17 points, including a pair of three-point buckets. The Pride narrowed its deficit to six on three occasions before the Lyons used a 15-4 spurt to hold a commanding 36-19 lead with 3:39 left. Eight points by sophomore Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic), including a long three-pointer as the shot clock expired, and five from Smith propelled Wheaton to the 17-point advantage.

Springfield rattled off seven unanswered points to bring the score to 36-26 at 1:45, the same margin the Pride trailed at the half, 38-28. The hosts shot 47.1 percent from the floor and forced the Pride into 11 turnovers, while Springfield made 35.7 percent of its shots while holding a 22-15 rebounding advantage. Smith led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting and Aitchison added 10 points and five boards. Senior Courtney Parvin (Brackney, PA/Montrose Area) led Springfield with nine points.

Hickey provided the Blue and White with a spark to begin the second half, scoring six of the team's first eight points and assisting on Wheaton's other hoop. The Lyons eventually extended their lead to a game-high 20 points twice, first when Aitchison picked off a pass and took it the length of the court to make it 55-35 with 15:17 remaining. The Pride got no closer than the final margin the rest of the way, tallying the game's final six points. Freshman Lauren O'Connor (Valhalla, NY/Valhalla) was the driving force behind Springfield's comeback attempt, netting 18 second-half points by going 6-of-9 from the floor and hitting all six free throw attempts. Hickey countered with 17 points as the Lyons shot 57.6 percent during the period.

Smith finished with a game-high 25 points while draining five three-point attempts, and Hickey netted a season-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting in addition to grabbing five steals. Aitchison hit 6-of-8 shots for 14 points and tacked on seven rebounds, five steals, three assists and a block in 27 minutes. Junior Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) contributed 10 points and a career-high 11 assists, just one off a 13-year-old school mark, while freshman Jennie Pleat (Nashua, NH/Nashua South) added 10 points and four assists. Wheaton shot 52.2 percent for the game while scoring the most points Springfield has allowed this season.

O'Connor and Parvin each tallied 20 points for Springfield, as Parvin added nine rebounds and O'Connor shot 7-of-12 in 21 minutes off the bench. The Pride lost for just the second time in 16 games and committed 22 turnovers, its most since 16 games ago on January 1.

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