By Zach Perbeck

NEW LONDON, Conn. - Despite a hot night from behind the arc from sophomore Aislinn McMahon (Andover, Mass.), the Connecticut College women's basketball team fell to Babson on Wednesday by a score of 71-44.
 
Babson (7-2) came out of the gates hot, jumping out to a 14-7 lead after the first quarter of play, and did not look back for the remainder of the night. Kelly Walsh scored eight first quarter points for the Beavers and outscored the Camels by herself throughout the first 10 minutes of play. A poor shooting start for Connecticut College attributed to them falling behind, as they opened the game converting on just three of their first 15 shots, including a 1-of-10 start from deep. 
 
The second quarter was much more promising for the Camels, as they kept up with the Beavers and played tight defense, forcing four Babson turnovers and converting two of those opportunities into points. Connecticut College shot much better from the floor in the second period, converting on six of their 16 opportunities. The Camels headed into halftime trailing by eight points, but still within reach of their opponent.
 
The scoring in the third quarter started with the Camels via a three-pointer from McMahon, but the Connecticut College offense would go cold for the remainder of the period. The Camels struggled to shoot the ball again, going just 3-of-11 from the field in the period and unable to find any rhythm on the offensive end. For the Beavers, it was a much different story, putting up 22 points in the period thanks to 44.4 percent field goal shooting as well as three trips to the free-throw line resulting in four additional points.
 
The fourth quarter saw both teams play well offensively as the Camels did not go down without a fight. While the game remained out of reach for the majority of the period, the Camels continued to play hard with a 17-point quarter to show for their effort. Freshman Abby Illusorio (Bonita, Calif.) led the way, scoring all seven of her points in the final period as Connecticut College played its best offensive basketball of the night. 
 
McMahon led the Camels in scoring with 11 points along with five rebounds, while senior Emily Tripp (Westport, Mass.) added 10 points of her own. For the Beavers, Walsh led the way with a game-high 19 points as well as four steals. Madison Odam contributed 14 points and seven rebounds for Babson as well.
 
The shooting statistics were ruled by Babson, as they led the Camels in field goal percentage 43.5 percent to 32.1 percent, three-point percentage 33.3 percent to 20.8 percent, and free-throw percentage 90 percent to 75 percent. The Beavers also led the Camels in rebounding by a 45-29 margin and steals by a 7-2 margin. Connecticut College led the visitors in assists by a tally of 12-9, and the two squads tied in turnovers with 12 apiece.
 
Connecticut College (2-7) will next host Springfield College on Saturday, Dec. 11th at 2:00 p.m.