WBB Earns Road Win at Wentworth

BOSTON – The Mitchell College women's basketball team earned its first non-conference win of the season on Tuesday night, defeating Wentworth Institute of Technology by a 68-53 final at Tansey Gymnasium.

The win was Mitchell's first against a non-conference opponent since 2015. Marissa Sweeney scored 17 points to go with 11 rebounds to fuel the Mariners (2-7 overall), who also picked up their first non-conference road victory since 2010.

The Leopards (1-8 overall) started hot in the first quarter, jumping put to a quick 6-1 lead. Haley Sabino grabbed five rebounds in the stretch while scoring two points of her own, as Wentworth kept a five-point cushion (11-6) with a deep trey from Stephani Mini at the three-minute mark. A quick 4-0 spurt from the Mariners pulled the visitors within one, 11-10, but Michelle McCloskey knocked down a jumper before Sam McGibbon made a buzzer-beating shot from downtown to hold a 16-10 lead after the first quarter.

The Leopards used four points from Baylor Johnson in the beginning of the second quarter to gain a double-digit advantage on the Mariners. A three-pointer from Maya Spence then gave WIT its largest lead of the game, 23-10, before Mitchell staged its first-half comeback. The Mariners scored 17 of the next 24 points – 11 coming off the hands of Sweeney – to deadlock the game at 30-30 heading into halftime.

After Francesca Pinard converted on two free throws to open the third stanza, Samantha Madden sunk a lay-up from Sabino to tie the game for what would be the last time of the night at 32-32. With 7:18 left in the frame, Ashleigh Beauford finished a three-pointer from Sweeney for a six-point lead, and the Mariners never looked back for the remainder of the contest. Mitchell took the lead into double digits (56-46) on a trey by Allegra Jones with 6:24 left in regulation which carried the Mariners to the 68-53 victory.

Erin Morton registered her first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Leopards. Sabino joined Morton with a double-double stat line of 10 points and 10 boards.

Sweeney additionally dished out four assists to go along with her double-double performance, while Haley Garcia and Jones added 14 and 10 points, respectively, to round out double-digit scoring for the visitors.

The Mariners are off until the New Year and return to action on Monday, January 1 for a 2:00 p.m. road test at Connecticut College.