Women's Basketball 2/28/2010 12:00:00 AM

Women's Basketball's Title Hopes Dashed in Narrow Loss to Babson

Babson 61, WPI 56

Babson Park, MA --- WPI Women's Basketball's bid for its first conference tournament title since 1996 fell just short as the second-seeded Engineers dropped a hard-fought 61-56 contest to top-seeded Babson Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the NEWMAC Tournament.

With the win, the Beavers, (25-3) win their second straight tournament crown, extended their program record winning streak to 17 games and secured their fifth NCAA Division III Tournament berth. WPI falls to 19-9 and will now await a possible bid to the ECAC New England Tournament.

With sophomore Nicki Wurdeman (Rowley, MA) and first-year Sarah Collins (Weymouth, MA) hampered by foul trouble throughout the contest, Babson's sophomore Kathleen King (Framingham, MA) stepped up with her best game of the season. The star forward poured in 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while shooting 5-for-11 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line. King was especially huge in the final minute, recording a pivotal steal at midcourt, grabbing a game-clinching defensive rebound, and hitting all four of her free throws.

Also playing well for the Beavers were junior captain Becky Bowman (Melrose, MA), who shot 6-of-10 for 12 points, first-year Allanah Wynn (Quincy, MA), who scored 10 points while hitting a pair of three-pointers, Collins, who finished with nine points, seven rebounds, and nine blocked shots, and junior Damisi Adewumi (Bronx, NY), who scored five points and pulled down eight rebounds.

WPI was led by junior Melissa Kuhn (Stoughton, MA), who finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting while dishing out four assists, and sophomore Lauren Hannmann (East Greenbush, NY), who shot 5-for-10, including a 4-for-6 clip from long range, for 14 points. Junior Elle Fontaine (Franklin, MA) chipped in with 10 points and six boards, first-year Theresa Logan (Southborough, MA) grabbed five caroms, and sophomore Baillie McNally (Mapleville, RI) added four points and four assists. The Engineers were outstanding on defense in the contest, forcing 20 Babson turnovers while committing just 11 of their own.

Babson built a seven-point lead at 25-18 with 2:20 remaining in the first half, but the Engineers closed the period with a 7-3 burst to cut its deficit to just three at the break, 28-25. King had eight points and nine boards at the half for Babson, while Adewumi came up big off the bench with five points and seven caroms. Hannman had nine points courtesy of three trifectas in the opening session for WPI, while Fontaine added four points and four boards.

The Beavers began to pull away numerous times in an exciting second half, but WPI fought its way back into the contest each time. Babson scored the first five points of the period to go up 33-25 following a three by sophomore Michelle Kenel (Rockaway Beach, NJ) and a jumper by Collins, but Kuhn scored four straight points and Fontaine converted a conventional three-point play to pull the Engineers back to within one, 33-32, with 14:54 left in the game.

Babson later pushed its lead to a game-high nine after a Bowman lay-up made it 49-40 with 7:44 to go, and the Beavers still led by as many as seven after Bowman scored off her own steal at midcourt to make it 55-48 with 3:23 on the clock. However, Kuhn rattled off five straight points - the first three on a hand-off trifecta from the top of the key at 3:09 and the other two from the free throw line at 2:11 - to make it a two-point game.

Wynn gave Babson some breathing room with a driving lay-up with 1:48 to play, but first-year Caitlin O'Connor (New Hampton, NH) answered with WPI's seventh three-pointer of the game to cut the Beavers' lead to just one, 57-56, with 1:41 remaining.

After the teams traded turnovers, WPI came up with a big defensive stop when Collins' contested jumper from the right elbow came up short as the shot clock expired. However, following a WPI timeout with 17.9 seconds left, King intercepted Logan's long inbounds pass at midcourt and drew a foul. The sophomore star calmly drained both ends of the ensuing 1-and-1 to push Babson's lead back to three, 59-56.

The Engineers had one final chance to tie the game, but Fontaine's long three from the left wing missed and King pulled down the rebound. Following another foul with 1.9 seconds remaining, King sank both free throws to clinch the 61-56 Babson victory.

Babson will now enter its second straight NCAA Tournament and the fifth in program history. The Beavers fell to eventual national semifinalist Amherst in the opening round of last year's tourney.