Second half dooms MCLA women in loss to Babson at Naismith tournament

Springfield, MA- Babson College broke open a tie game in the third quarter and Payton Ouimette notched a double double of 19 points and 17 rebounds as the Beavers defeated MCLA 75-51 in the Naismith Classic hosted by Springfield College.  The Beavers improve to 7-4 while MCLA falls to 4-6 on the season.

Babson and MCLA were knotted at 25-25 at halftime.  The Beavers would outscore the Trailblazers 31-16 in the pivotal third quarter to take command.  Ouimette scored 11 of her 19 points in the second half.  

The Beavers came out of the locker room and Elizabeth Lane and Tea Spellacy drilled back to back threes to open up a 31-25 lead.  The Traiblazers would pull within one at 33-32 after Courtney Pingelski hit a three of her own, but from the there the Beavers took over.  

Babson would go on a 23-5 spurt to open up a commanding 56-37 lead with just 1:52 left to play in the third quarter.  MCLA scored the final four points of the quarter, but would head to the fourth down 56-41.

MCLA could not get closer than 13 points over the final ten minutes of action as the Beavers coasted home.

Ouimette was 8-20 from the floor and 11 of her 17 boards were on the offensive end.  Her dominance on the glass helped Beavers own a 55-27 edge over MCLA, including 32 offensive rebounds.  Babson held a 28-4 advantage in second chance points.

Katherine Tamulionis came off the bench to add 12 points for the Beavers.  Spellacy and Katie Jones each ended with 11 points.

MCLA placed four players in double figures led by Emily Moulton and Pingelski who each had 12 points.  Sam Gawron and Mckenzie Robinson ended with 10 apiece.  The Trailblazers were hampered by 27 turnovers in the setback.

The Trailblazers will continue their difficult stretch of games this week as they head to Union (NY) on Tuesday night for another non conference matchup.