NORTH ADAMS, MA - The Wheelock College women's basketball team finished up its first-semester slate against 2010 NCAA Tournament qualifier Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) on Tuesday, limiting a Trailblazer offense that averaged 77.3 points in its past three games during a 64-32 loss in the Amsler Campus Center. The Wildcats, who had their two-contest winning streak snapped, fell to 2-5, while MCLA improved to 7-3.
Junior Kayla Drescher (Wallingford, CT/Mark T. Sheehan) neared a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds, shooting both 3-of-4 from the field and at the charity stripe while turning in two blocks and a pair of assists. Sophomore Keneisha Milton (Boston, MA/Wayland) shot 4-of-4 on free throws while notching six points and a pair of helpers, while senior Joy Holliday (Milford, MA/Milford) had five points and three steals. Sophomore Sarah McCaffrey (East Taunton, MA/Taunton) added four points, and classmate Kailah Simon (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) collected a pair of steals.
Junior Jen Wehner (Cooperstown, NY/Cooperstown) led the Trailblazers with 11 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes, while classmate Olivia McMullen (Broadalbin, NY/Broadalbin-Perth) added 11 points.
Drescher's lay-up at the 18:53 mark of the opening half put Wheelock on top, and a Simon jumper provided the visitors with a 4-3 edge at 17:31 before MCLA countered with six straight points. Two Drescher freebies drew the Wildcats within 9-6, but the Trailblazers scored 10 of the next 12 points to grab an 11-point advantage. Wheelock scored the final four points of the period, with sophomore Taylor Rogers (Essex, MA/Manchester Essex Regional) canning a three-pointer at 1:08 and Drescher adding a free throw with 23 seconds remaining to make the score 30-15 by the intermission.
With 7:55 remaining in regulation, Milton found Drescher for a lay-up that cut Wheelock's deficit to fewer than 20 before the Trailblazers scored 17 of the game's next 19 points to clinch the victory.
The Wildcats break until Monday, Jan. 3, when they head to Cambridge and face Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) at 8 p.m.