The women’s basketball team ended its regular NESAC season with a huge 76-49 win over Connecticut College at home on Saturday. With this win, the Cardinals secured the third seed in the NESCAC tournament and will host sixth-seeded Trinity in a first-round game of the playoffs on Saturday, Feb. 18. Bates and Bowdoin hold the top two seeds, being the only NESCAC teams to defeat the Cards in the regular season.
The team started the game slowly but took an 11-10 lead when Kelly Bowman’07 made a basket with 14:11 left on the clock that started a 14-2 run for Wesleyan. The Cards led 23-12 with eight minutes remaining and increased their lead to twelve by the end of the first half.
The Camels never recovered from the first-half deficit as the Lady Cards opened up another 14-5 run at the start of the second half to put the game away. The away team never found its rhythm as the Wesleyan lead stayed at about 17 for the remainder of the game. Despite the huge lead, the Cardinals never reduced the pace of the game, giving the team its largest margin of victory in recent years.
“Conn was a great win because it was our last NESCAC game and gave us some great momentum going into the tournament,” said Ashley Mastrangelo ’06.
The Cardinals enjoyed one of the best NESCAC regular seasons with a 7-2 record. Three seniors had an outstanding season to lead Wesleyan into the playoffs. Coming into the game with a total of 2,715 points between them over the four years, Hannah Stubbs ’06, Meghan Robinson ’06, and Mastrangelo have been the core of the Cardinal’s success. Wesleyan boasts a record of 79-19 since the arrival of this trio in 2002. Last Saturday, Robinson led the team with 16 points, two assists and three steals. Mastrangelo added 11 points and six rebounds while Stubbs enjoyed a game-high seven rebounds, along with eight points.
“The success we have had over the past four years can be attributed to our hard work and coaches,” said Mastrangelo. “Luckily for us seniors, we have had three great classes of talent ahead and behind of us. This season we have great teamwork, which really shows and helps us on the court.”
Although the seniors played a strong game on Saturday, the whole team had a tremendous time on the court. The freshmen played extra minutes and gained invaluable experience early in their Wesleyan careers. Meredith Lowe ’09 had 10 points and seven rebounds on the night. Sarah Milburn’ 07, with nine points and five assists, also had a strong game.
The Cardinals will wrap up the regular season by hosting Westfield State College on Tuesday night before facing Trinity at home on Saturday.
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