Pride Women’s Basketball Earns Win over Wellesley

WORCESTER, Mass. – One day after seeing its opponent rally from a halftime deficit, Regis College performed the same feat Sunday, outscoring Wellesley College by 10 points in the second half for a 50-44 victory to wrap up the women's basketball portion of the Clark Holiday Classic at the Kneller Athletic Center.

Katryna Veasey (Quincy, Mass.) led the Pride with 12 points and eight rebounds, plus she dished out two assists. Maura Russell (Braintree, Mass.) hit three three-pointers as she finished with nine points, six rebounds, and two assists, and Sam D'Angelo (Woburn, Mass.) also scored nine points to go along with four rebounds. D'Angelo and Veasey were named to the Clark Holiday Classic All-Tournament Team. 

After falling behind 5-2, Regis went on an 11-2 scoring run through the rest of the first quarter to pull ahead, 13-7, after one quarter. Wellesley outscored Regis through the final five minutes of the second quarter 11-2, led by five points from Caitlin Aguirre, as the Blue went into the locker room at halftime ahead, 23-19.

Down 30-27 midway through the third quarter, Regis scored the final six points of the period to pull ahead, 33-30. The Pride then scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter, capped by a Russell three-pointer, to extend their lead into double digits at 40-30.

Wellesley (5-5) closed to within five on three-pointers by Zojajha Ayub and Aguirre, and then did it again after a layup by Emily Kopp with 30 seconds left in regulation. D'Angelo made a free throw, and then the Regis defense prevented the Blue from taking a quick shot, grabbing the rebound off a Wellesley miss and running out the clock.

Aguirre led all players with 22 points, shooting 8-of-17 from the field, including 5-of-10 from behind the three-point line. Kopp contributed 10 points and five rebounds, but Wellesley shot only 37.5 percent (18-of-48) from the field, including 7-of-15 from behind the three-point line.

The Pride hit 42.6 percent (20-of-47) of their field goal attempts, including 4-of-12 from behind the three-point line, but only 50 percent (6-of-12) of their free throw opportunities. Regis won the rebounding battle, 38-24, and was able to score 19 points off 19 Wellesley turnovers.

Regis (2-7) makes the short trip to Waltham for a New Year's Day game at Brandeis Tuesday starting at 1 p.m. The Pride then host UMass Dartmouth Thursday, Jan. 3, beginning at 6 p.m. at Higgins Court.