Wheelock battles tough in loss to Eagles

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Wheelock Wildcats jumped out to the early lead Thursday night, but Daniel Webster held on for the 65-57 game Tuesday night at Pine Manor College. The win improves the Eagles to a perfect 12-0 in the New England Collegiate Conference and 17-4 overall. Wheelock falls to 4-16 and 2-8 in the NECC.

The Wildcats had the hot hand early, jumping out to a quick 8-2 lead on a three pointer by Sarah Brown (Plainville, Conn.). Wheelock maintained the lead for the first eight minutes of play, before a three pointer by Vanessa Bosques (North Windham, Conn.) gave the Eagles a 14-12 lead with 12:40 remaining in the first half. From there, head coach Heather Jacobs team went on a 13-2 run to end the half, highlighted by a pair of triples from Bosques.

Wheelock opened the second half with a 15-8 run and pulled to within two on a three pointer from Brown at the 14:23 mark. The Eagles responded with an 11-4 run of their own to stretch the lead to 13, and the Wildcats would only come within six after that.

The Eagles used a strong inside game to net 38 points in the paint, helped by 18 assists including eight from Ariel Guzman (Yonkers, NY) alone. Junior Tonisha Tate led all scores with 16 points while pulling down eight boards and swatting three blocks. Teammate Bosques was 4-8 from behind the arc for 14 points.

Wheelock was led by Brown’s 14 points, while Joy Holiday (Milford, Mass.) was 6-11 for 13 points and freshman Keneisha Milton (Boston, Mass.) managed a double-double with 11 boards and 12 points.

Wheelock will next host Becker on Thursday night at 7:00 pm while Daniel Webster hosts Mitchell Thursday night at the same time.