Salem State Snaps Women's Hoops' Win Streak With 79-69 Win
BABSON PARK, Mass. - First-year Madeleine Park (Blue Hill, Maine) erupted for a career-high 24 points and senior Danielle Jenkins (Marlborough, Mass.) added 17 to lead the visiting Salem State College Vikings to a 79-69 victory over the host Babson College Beavers in a non-conference women's basketball game at Staake Gymnasium on Monday night. With the win, Salem State (3-3) snapped a brief two-game slide while Babson (5-2) saw its five-game win streak come to a halt.
Entering the game with just nine points in the team's first five games, Park had a huge breakout game for the Vikings, scoring a team-high 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor, including a 6-of-11 clip from three-point range. Jenkins finished with 17 on 8-of-16 shooting from the field while also contributing four rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Sophomore Amy Barry (Manchester, N.H.) added 13 points while hitting 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, first-year Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) tallied 10 points, six boards, and four steals, and senior Jakoya Wilkins (Dorchester, Mass.) scored seven points and led all players with nine assists.
Babson was led by sophomore Nicki Wurdeman (Rowley, Mass.), who scored a game-high 25 points despite being hampered by foul trouble throughout the contest. The second-year star shot 10-for-13 from the floor, including 3-of-4 from three-point range, while also collecting five rebounds and blocking three shots. Sophomore Kathleen King (Framingham, Mass.) also had a big offensive game for the Beavers, scoring 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while sophomore Becky Bowman (Melrose, Mass.) added 10 points and five assists while hitting five of her seven shots from the field. As a team, the Beavers shot a stellar 55.6 percent (30-54) from the floor but hurt their own cause by committing 27 turnovers.
Park carried the Vikings early on, hitting her first four jumpers, including three trifectas, to power the visitors to an early 18-15 lead. A steal and breakaway lay-up by Bowman then sparked a 6-0 run that gave Babson a 21-18 advantage with 12:20 to go in the first half, but Jenkins scored eight points during an ensuing 17-2 burst by Salem State that gave the Vikings a 35-23 lead with 5:35 left. Salem State would lead by as many as 15 later in the period before taking a 40-27 edge into the locker room.
The Vikings dominated the first 10 minutes of the second half, inflating their lead to as many as 27 (66-39) on a lay-up by first-year Whitney Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) with 10:32 left to play in the contest. Babson would whittle away over the remaining 10 minutes behind 13 points from Wurdeman, but despite finishing the game with a 17-4 run the Beavers came up short as Salem State claimed the 79-69 victory.