BABSON PARK, Mass. - Senior Kayla
Morin (Pascoag, R.I./Burrillville) scored a career-high 33
points Friday evening, making a school-record eight three-point
baskets, as Plymouth State University defeated Babson College,
77-69, in the first game of the sixth annual Babson Invitational
Tournament presented by Irving Oil at Staake Gymnasium.
The Panthers advance to the tournament championship game on
Saturday at 3:00 p.m., when they will meet Westfield State
College. The Owls advanced to the title game with a 67-62
victory over Connecticut College in Friday's second game. PSU is
now 2-0 on the season while Babson was playing its season opener.
Morin (right) was 8-of-10 from three-point range and
10-of-17 overall. She broke the PSU single-game record of
five treys, done several times, most recently by Joy
DePalo against Keene State on Feb. 8, 2005. Morin also
collected three assists and six rebounds, sharing team-high honors
in the latter department as PSU out-rebounded Babson, 43-31.
Morin's previous high was 17 points in a game against Lasell
College last season.
Plymouth State was 12-of-23 as a team from three-point land, while
Babson was just 1-for-2 from beyond the arc.
Freshman Alicia Doucet
(Manchester, N.H./Central) chipped in with 11 points for PSU, while
juniors Laura Kent (Bellingham, Mass.) and
Gretchen Fritch (South Boston, Mass.) and
sophomore Amanda Kania (Manchester, N.H./West)
added nine points apiece. Junior guard Kalie
Judd (Peabody, Mass.) contributed nine assists, six
rebounds, and four steals while committing just two turnovers.
Freshmen Kathleen King (Framingham, Mass.) and Nicole Wurdeman
(Rowley, Mass.) and sophomore Becky Bowman (Melrose, Mass.)
combined to score 51 of Babson's 69 points. King led the
Beavers with 18 points while Wurdeman tallied 17 and Bowman was
good for 16.
PSU went on a 10-2 run late in the first half to take a 32-24 lead
with six minutes to play. Morin's fourth three-pointer of the half
gave the Panthers a seven-point advantage (36-29) with a minute to
play, but Babson scored six unanswered points to cut the margin to
one point at the break, 36-35.
Babson pulled out to a five-point lead five minutes into the second
half, but PSU answered with nine straight points on two Morin
long-range shots and one by freshman Michaela
Gavin (Windham, N.H./Salem). It was a one-point PSU lead
(53-52) at the midway point of the second half when PSU went on an
11-3 run over the next four minutes to extend the advantage to nine
points. Morin had eight points in the rally, including a pair
of 'threes', and Galvin hit another three as well.
Babson got as close as five points with five minutes left, but PSU
answered with seven unanswered points to put the game away.
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