BABSON PARK, Mass.—Sophomore Katelyn Mollica (Foxborough, Mass.) led three players in double figures with 14 points and head coach Judy Blinstrub picked up the 700th win of her career as No. 12/11 Babson College defeated visiting Framingham State University, 71-63, in non-conference women’s basketball action on Tuesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.
With the win, Babson improves to 7-0 on the year and Blinstrub becomes the fourth active coach and the 11th in Division III history to reach the 700-win milestone. Framingham State, which had its four-game winning streak snapped, slips to 6-2 on the season.
Senior Samantha Smith (Greenfield, Mass.) recorded her third double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while junior Kelly Walsh (Goffstown, NH) scored eight of her 13 points in the second half for the Beavers. Senior Megan Bauman (East Lyme, Conn.) added nine points and a game-high six assists and sophomore Abby Miller (Millis, Mass.) came off the bench to contribute eight points.
Sophomore Katherine Haselton (Greenfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 17 points and junior Katty Haidul (Gilford, NH) finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds to pace the Rams. Fellow junior Flannery O’Connor (Amesbury, Mass.) also had a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards despite fouling out late in the third quarter.
All five starters scored as Framingham State built a 16-8 lead just over six minutes into the contest before the Green and White got back-to-back three-pointers from Miller and Mollica to pull within 18-16 at the end of the first. quarter. Smith gave the Beavers a 27-25 lead with 3:44 to go in the second to spark a 9-0 run and scored inside with 34 seconds left in the half for a 36-29 advantage at the break.
Mollica knocked down a triple to start the third quarter and Smith followed with a bucket in the paint to help push the lead to 41-29. The Rams got as close as seven at the 7:25 mark, but the Beavers regained a 50-38 margin on a layup by sophomore Kiara Simeone Davis (Coral Springs, Fla.) four minutes later.
Walsh scored five straight points after Haidul had pulled Framingham State within eight and Bauman followed up a hoop by the sophomore Camilla Silk (Medfield, Mass.) and a free throw by Walsh to give Babson its biggest lead of the night at 69-54 with 4:32 remaining in the game. The Rams responded with a 9-0 run to close as six on a jumper by Haselton with 2:29 to go but went scoreless over their final four possessions.
The Beavers shot just 34.2 percent on the night but knocked down eight three-pointers and scored 18 points off of 17 Framingham State turnovers. They also finished with a 46-41 edge on the glass.
The Rams shot 42.1 percent for the game but was just 9-of-16 at the charity stripe.
Babson is off until December 20 when it faces Loras at 11:30 a.m. in Miami Gardens, Fla., while Framingham State hosts Curry on Thursday at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 20-7 all-time against Framingham State and 11-0 all-time against the Rams inside Staake Gymnasium.
• Blinstrub joins Andy Yosinoff of Emmanuel (881), Michael Durbin of Saint Benedict (720) and Michael Miller (715) as active Division III coaches with 700 or more wins.
• Babson is 45-5 going back to the start of the 2019-20 when outscoring its opponents.
• With six assists on Tuesday night, Bauman moved into sixth place on the program’s all-time list with 310 career assists.