Conn College Tops WBB

NEW LONDON, Conn. -- The Mitchell College women's basketball team fell to crosstown rival Connecticut College on Sunday afternoon by an 81-36 final at Luce Field House.

Tara Gabelman poured in 18 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, reaching a career milestone with her 600th board in the second half to lead Conn College to its third consecutive triumph. She finished 6-for-9 from the field and a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. 

The Camels improved their record to 4-2 with the victory while a hard-working Mariners squad slipped to 0-4 in the early season.

Willa McKinley chipped in with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds for the hosts, converting 7-of-12 shots from the field. Carlee Smith added 12 points while Caitlin Cimino contributed nine points and five rebounds for the winning side.

Sophomore Savannah Boyle scored 13 points to lead the Mariners. Freshman Jessica Shepherd added a season-high 12 points, five rebounds and three assists for Mitchell.

Gabelman collected a steal and went end-to-end for an easy field goal in transition to vault the Camels out to a 17-4 advantage with 12:43 remaining in the opening half. Later on in the half, Kaitlyn Cresencia scored a hoop in the paint with a nice feed coming from Cimino to push the lead to 26-12 with 9:01 to go.

Mitchell did everything it could to hang around. With 7:07 left, Boyle buried a deep three just as the shot clock expired to trim the deficit to 30-17. Freshman Caycee Williams made it a 30-19 contest when she put one in from the paint with 6:33 left in the half. But the Camels ended the stanza with a 10-2 run to push their lead to 40-21 at the intermission. Liz Malman sparked the Camels on the run with two field goals and an assist.

McKinley opened the second half with a three ball from the left side and followed that up with another basket that extended the Camels' advantage to 45-21. Kate Cole chipped in with back-to-back three balls to push the lead to 64-28.

Conn College dominated the backboards in the win, holding a 59-32 edge on the glass.

Mitchell will next begin conference play at Wheelock College on Tuesday, December 3 at 7:30 p.m.