NORTON, Mass. -- The Mount Holyoke basketball team's bid for its first NEWMAC win came up just short Wednesday night in a 42-40 loss at Wheaton College.

Wheaton's Cheyenne Colbert caught a loose ball and banked in a layup with 2 seconds remaining to give the host Lyons (5-13, 1-3 NEWMAC) the final margin of victory. The visiting Lyons from Mount Holyoke (4-14, 0-4 NEWMAC) had tied the game on sophomore Ania McMichael's (Glastonbury, Conn.) drive and layup following a defensive stop.

With shutdown defense against the hosts, Mount Holyoke had climbed back from a 30-16 deficit halfway through the second quarter to tie the game at 38-38 with 1:32 left in the game with a free throw by junior Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.). A minute earlier, senior Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) had pulled the Lyons within a point by making all three of her free throws after a three-point shooting foul.

Mount Holyoke outscored Wheaton 7-4 in the third quarter and 11-8 in the fourth after Wheaton had built a 30-22 halftime lead after opening the second quarter with a key 12-4 run.

The teams played statistically evenly in rebounding, field goal percentage and turnovers. Wheaton made 3-15 from three while Mount Holyoke was 1-13. The hosts also shot 13-16 from the free throw line to Mount Holyoke's 15-25.

Colbert scored 16 points for Wheaton, while Regan Keyter sparked the hosts with nine points, 12 rebounds and six assists.

Twomey led Mount Holyoke with 11 points to go with six rebounds and three assists. Senior Taryn White (Alexandria, Va.) posted 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals, and McMichael had seven points and five rebounds off the bench. Junior Sofia Francisco (Boston, Mass.) gathered seven rebounds and three blocked shots before fouling out in 18 minutes.

Mount Holyoke next plays at Babson on Saturday at 1pm.