Basketball Advances To NEWMAC Finals
WORCESTER, Mass. (February 24, 2007) - The second-seeded Lyons of Mount Holyoke held off a spirited Babson squad to earn a 73-71, double-overtime victory in the NEWMAC semifinals Saturday at WPI's Harrington Auditorium. The Lyons will now make their third straight appearance in the NEWMAC championship game, facing top-seeded WPI at 2:30pm Sunday at Harrington Auditorium. MHC has won eight straight games since a 52-49 setback at WPI back on January 27th.
Babson jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the first four minutes of action and led by as many as 12 in the opening six minutes of action. Mount Holyoke fought back to within five and trailed by five at intermission, 31-26 as both teams connected on 12-of-29 (41.4%) from the floor in the first half. Mount Holyoke held a 23-14 advantage on the boards in the first half, but was only able to convert its eight offensive rebounds into two points.
Trailing by as many as 12 in the first half, Mount Holyoke rallied back to take a 46-44 lead midway through the second half. Babson rebounded with an 8-2 run to take a 52-48 lead following a 3-pointer by junior swingman Caitlin Boulier (Wolcott, Conn.) and held a 58-54 going into the final two and a half minutes of action.
After a missed free throw by Mount Holyoke, Lyons' senior Joeanna Silvey (Boston, Mass.) came down with the loose ball and was fouled while converting the putback basket. Silvey added the free throw to pull Mount Holyoke within one, 58-57, going into the final two minutes of action. The Lyons then took a 60-58 lead with 30 seconds to play on a 3-pointer by Angela Astuccio (Foxboro, Mass.). Boulier sent the game to overtime, converting an inbound play from underneath the Beavers' basket with four seconds to play.
Mount Holyoke started the first extra frame with a 7-2 run but the Beavers bounced back behind Boulier as the junior scored the final five points of overtime to send the game to a second overtime where Silvey, Astuccio and Michelle Kowalski (Springfield, MA) all had clutch baskets for the Lyons.
Silvey led the Lyons with a game-high 31 points and the 5-7 guard also pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds. Astuccio added 17 points, Kowalski had a dozen and Marisa Barone (Ludlow, MA) 12 rebounds for the Lyons which out-rebounded Babson 57-39.
Suzy Ward (North Attleboro, MA) led Babson with team-highs of 22 points and 15 rebounds while Boulier added 21. Linsey Poulson (Leominster, MA) contributed 14 points and eight rebounds. while senior point guard Colleen Burke (Pittsfield, MA) chipped in with a game-best six assists.
Sunday's championship game against WPI at 2:30 p.m. will be broadcast on Sportsjuice.com . Live stats will also be available at d3hoops.com .