NEWTON, Mass. – In the final tune-up before they begin conference play, Mount Ida College got a well-rounded effort in an 81-70 win over non-conference foe Wheelock College in women's basketball action on Wednesday night at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Mustangs (5-8) racked up 25 assists in the victory, which tied for third most in a game in program history. Sophomore guard Stephanie Champoux (Tewksbury, Mass.) had five of those assists to go along with a game-high 15 points, while freshman Imani Bumpus (W. Hartford, Conn.) stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, four steals, three assists and four rebounds.
Each team had a player register a double-double. For the Wildcats it came from sophomore Katie Alsip (Quincy, Mass.), who pulled down a game-high 16 boards to pair with her ten points. Sophomore Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) recorded her fourth double-double of the year with 15 points and 11 rebounds, along with a block and a pair each of steals and assists.
Mount Ida raced out to an 18-6 lead with the help of back to back steals and fast break layups by Bumpus.
Jaime Grzych (Columbia, Conn.), who had eight points in the firsts half and was one of four Wildcats in double-figures with ten points hit a jump shot to get the visitors within six (21-15) near the halfway mark of the first half, but Champoux responded with three straight jump shots, spurring a 14-3 run to return the lead to double-digits.
A pair of free-throws and a three-pointer by Bumpus was the only scoring in the final two minutes of the half, and it sent the Mustangs to the break with a 20 point lead, 46-26.
Alsip scored the first seven points for Wheelock (4-6) in the second half, but a three-pointer by freshman Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) helped Mount Ida retain a twenty point lead.
The hosts' advantage reached 24 on a layup by Martinez before Wheelock began to chip away again, starting with a jump shot by Michelle Woods (Wilmington, Mass.), who scored 11 points in the game. That began a 9-0 run by the Wildcats, ended only by another three-pointer by Liotta, who had ten points in the game and was 3-6 from downtown, with all of her triples coming in the second half, in which Mount Ida as a team shot 50% (4-8).
Back to back three-pointers by Emma Silver (Colchester, Conn.), who, along with Alsip co-led the Wildcats with four assists, and Kayla Corshia (Medway, Mass.), who led the team with 12 points, made it a 12 point game with four and a half minutes left, but Champoux answered with a three-pointer of her own on the next possession. A small run down the stretch which ended with back to back baskets by Emily Doyle (Lynn, Mass.) was not enough to stop the Mustangs from picking up their second consecutive win.
The home team was outrebounded 50-42, getting five rebounds apiece from Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.) and Brittany Crosby (Riverside, R.I.). Jesse scored 14 points and had 7 assists in the contest, while Crosby added six points and two assists.
Freshman Shanell Nardone (Tewksbury, Mass.) came up just short of all five Mount Ida starters scoring in double digits, but had a solid night with eight points, five assists, four rebounds and a steal, while sophomore Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.) came off the bench and pitched in with a pair of blocks.
The Wildcats got nine points from Doyle, while Woods pitched in seven rebounds. Grzych had three assists and a pair of steals to go with five rebounds.
The Mustangs continue their perfect streak against Wheelock, improving to 24-0 in their meetings with the Wildcats.
They matched their assists production from two other games - 2006 vs. Lesley and 2001 vs. Becker. The Mustangs collected 26 assists against the same Wildcats team in a 2012 meeting, while the program record for assists in a game is 27, earned in a January 2013 matchup against Pine Manor College.
Mount Ida opens up Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday afternoon when they host Norwich at 1:00 pm in the first half of a double-header against the Cadets.
Wheelock returns to conference play themselves, travelling to Elms College Saturday for a 3:00 pm start.