Mitchell WBB Comes Up Short at Becker

LEICESTER, Mass. – The Mitchell College women's basketball team lost by a final score of 70-60 at Becker College on Tuesday evening.

Tatiana Mojica scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Becker, which held off a major second-half rally by the Mariners to secure the victory. Mitchell (4-16 overall, 4-10 NECC) were down by as much as 16 in the second half before pulling to within one, only to watch the Hawks (7-14 overall, 6-8 NECC) come up strong in the clutch.
 
Mojica hit 11 of her 18 shots on the night for the Hawks while Brooke Martel finished with 16 points and five rebounds. Haley Ooms came up big without even scoring a field goal, finishing with 10 assists, seven rebounds and four steals. Chelsea Joubert filled the stat line with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. The Hawks outrebounded their opponents 55-32 on the night.
 
After scoring only two baskets in the first half, freshman Amanda Garcia led the Mariners' comeback charge in the second with 15 points to finish with 19, shooting 9-for-16 from the floor and pulling down six boards. Junior Kate Mulloy had 14 points and a game-high 14 rebounds with four assists and two blocks. Senior Suzie Barbosa contributed 12 points while dishing out six assists, and freshman Diamond Thomas and senior Kaylee Cerruto each scored seven.
 
After Becker took an early lead in the game, Mitchell responded with a 10-2 rally to go up by five, capped off with a three-pointer from Mulloy with 11:01 remaining in the first half. The Mariners held the lead until the waning minutes of the period, when the blue and white exploded for a 13-0 rally to close out the half, a run sealed by a fastbreak lay-up from Martel to put Becker up 36-27 going into the break. Mojica poured in 17 points to lead the home team while Barbosa had nine for the visitors. The Hawks enjoyed a 34-13 edge in rebounding in the opening period while the Mariners countered making four of their eight three-point shots.
 
In the second, both teams continued to aggressively push the ball, with Becker going up by as much as 16 after an 8-0 spurt, with three of those four baskets coming from Martel. Just when it seemed the Hawks would run away with it, the Mariners answered by catching fire and putting up a suffocating defensive effort, scoring 17 of the game's next 19 points to pull to within one after a jumper from Garcia with 8:04 remaining in the game and the score 53-52.

The Hawks came up with the stops when they needed them the most, scoring 13 straight points during a key stretch to go up 68-54 with 2:36 left after a Martel lay-up. A late push by Mitchell came too little, too late. 
 
Mitchell will next host Newbury College on Thursday, February 7 at 6 p.m.