BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman guard Mallorie Blakney (Fairfield, Maine) connected on 8-of-15 shots from the floor and 8-of-11 free throws, en route to scoring a game-high 26 points as Thomas held on to defeat Wentworth, 62-58, in the first game of 2008 for both squads.
The Terriers jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, with Blakney factoring in all of the points. In addition to scoring six points, she assisted on a three-pointer by junior guard Brittany Morin (Winslow, Maine). The Leopards would score six of the next eight points and trimmed the lead to 11-8 when senior forward Emily Cring (Cicero, N.Y.) hit a jumper in the paint with 15:21 left.
After Thomas got the lead back to five (15-10), sophomore guard Michelle Fauci (Boxford, Mass.) drained a three-pointer to cut the lead back to two with a shade over 10 minutes to play. One of two free throws from Blakney would bring the lead to three before a three-point play by junior forward Amy Miles (Waldo, Maine) brought the lead back to six.
Freshman forward Meaghan Healey (Merrimack, N.H.) scored the next four points and brought the Leopards back to within a pair, but a 12-2 run over the next 4:27 by the visitors gave Thomas its largest lead of the game at 31-19 with 4:24 left. Wentworth would then use a 6-0 spurt to cut the lead to 31-25 with 2:49 left, thanks to a three-point play by Cring. A three-pointer from Morin on a fastbreak brought the lead to 34-25 with 35 seconds left, but the Leopards scored the final five points of the stanza, including a trifecta from sophomore guard Angela Tucker (Lynn, Mass.) with nine seconds to play in the half.
The second half would open with Cring hitting a jumper to cut the lead to a pair, but Blakney quickly answered with a three-pointer to give Thomas a 37-32 lead 1:39 into the second half. Each time Wentworth would score, the Terriers had an answer and led by six (44-38) with 14:00 left.
A three-pointer by Fauci with 11:30 left trimmed a five-point lead to two (47-45), and, after freshman forward Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) hit one of two free throws, the Leopards found themselves trailing by just one. However, Blakney scored the next three points to push the lead to four with 7:34 left, and despite Wentworth’s cutting the lead in half on two separate occasions, the Terriers led by four (56-52) with 3:31 left.
The Leopards began to make a run when Vallone caused a turnover and sophomore guard Michelle Moffo (Southington, Conn.) hit a fast-break layup with 2:20 left. Moffo was fouled on the play, but missed the ensuing free throw. However, Cring controlled the offensive rebound and dished it out to sophomore guard Jessie Coffey (Wakefield, R.I.), whose attempt to put Wentworth up one missed the mark. On the next possession, Vallone caused another turnover, but the Leopards could not control the ball, which led to a three-point play by Blakney, giving the Terriers a 59-54 lead.
Gardner buried two free throws with 1:29 left, and less than a minute later, Vallone had a put back to bring Wentworth back within one at 59-58. Morin was fouled with 16 ticks left and buried both shots to give the visitors a 61-58 lead. Wentworth had one last chance, but Vallone’s game-tying trifecta was off and Blakney hit one of two free throws with a second left to seal the win.
In addition to Blakney’s 26 points, Morin tallied 11 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Miles would add nine points and nine boards in the win.
Cring went 6-for-11 from the floor to score 15 points and grab 17 rebounds. Moffo (10 points, five rebounds, three assists) and Vallone (seven points, 12 rebounds, three blocks, three steals) also paced the Leopards in defeat. Wentworth won the battle of the boards by a 49-36 margin.
With the win, Thomas improves to 4-3 and returns to North Atlantic Conference action Saturday when the Terriers host Husson. The loss snaps a four-game win streak for Wentworth, which falls to 7-3 on the season. The Leopards travel across the city Thursday night to face Emerson.
Official Basketball Box Score Thomas vs Wentworth 01/08/08 6:00 pm at Boston, Mass. (Tansey Gymnasium) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Thomas 4-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 10 Brittany Morin...... * 3-6 3-5 2-2 0 4 4 2 11 5 3 0 3 37 20 Mallorie Blakney.... * 8-15 2-5 8-11 3 1 4 2 26 4 3 0 2 32 23 Karen Demers........ * 2-13 1-2 3-4 2 3 5 2 8 0 4 0 1 33 42 Cortney Barrett..... * 1-4 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 5 2 1 2 3 3 23 53 Lea McNary.......... * 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 03 Jess Nassetta....... 3-7 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 6 0 0 0 1 15 05 Kellie Martel....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 13 Amy Miles........... 4-11 0-2 1-1 4 5 9 3 9 4 2 0 3 35 22 Tonya Jones......... 0-5 0-0 0-0 0 5 5 3 0 0 2 1 0 14 24 Kim Denbow.......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 31 Alexis Evans........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 TEAM................ 3 3 6 Totals.............. 21-62 6-14 14-18 13 23 36 18 62 14 17 4 13 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9% 2nd Half: 8-31 25.8% Game: 33.9% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 42.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-5 80.0% 2nd Half: 10-13 76.9% Game: 77.8% 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Wentworth 7-3 TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 05 Angela Tucker....... * 1-3 1-3 0-0 0 1 1 0 3 1 3 0 3 22 10 Michelle Fauci...... * 2-5 2-2 0-0 0 1 1 5 6 4 2 1 2 23 15 Kirsten Vallone..... * 2-9 0-1 3-4 2 10 12 3 7 0 1 3 3 28 23 Jessie Coffey....... * 2-9 0-4 2-2 2 2 4 2 6 2 5 0 0 18 32 Emily Cring......... * 6-11 0-0 3-3 9 8 17 2 15 2 3 1 0 35 12 Michelle Moffo...... 3-5 0-0 4-5 3 2 5 3 10 3 5 1 0 28 21 Sam Vinciguerra..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 24 Meaghan Healey...... 3-9 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 6 0 1 0 1 17 34 Meaghan Gardner..... 1-7 0-2 3-4 0 1 1 1 5 2 3 0 0 26 TEAM................ 2 3 5 Totals.............. 20-60 3-12 15-18 18 31 49 17 58 14 23 6 9 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 10-29 34.5% 2nd Half: 10-31 32.3% Game: 33.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-6 33.3% 2nd Half: 1-6 16.7% Game: 25.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 8-9 88.9% 2nd Half: 7-9 77.8% Game: 83.3% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Stephanie Roche, Roger Saraiva, Jane Hopkins Technical fouls: Thomas-None. Wentworth-None. Attendance: 53 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Thomas........................ 34 28 - 62 Wentworth..................... 30 28 - 58 Points in the paint-THOMAS-W 22,WIT 22. Points off turnovers-THOMAS-W 17,WIT 13. 2nd chance points-THOMAS-W 7,WIT 13. Fast break points-THOMAS-W 17,WIT 14. Bench points-THOMAS-W 15,WIT 21. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-0 times. Last FG-THOMAS-W 2nd-01:50, WIT 2nd-00:33. Largest lead-THOMAS-W by 12 1st-04:24, WIT None.