MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Benefiting from a stellar defensive showing, combined with a +12 edge in rebounding margin, the seven-seed Wesleyan women's basketball team defeated the 10^th-seeded Hamilton Continentals 63-52 in the NESCAC Tournament First Round on Friday night. Wesleyan (12-12) advances to the Quarterfinal round where they will meet the second-seed Tufts (19-3) on Sunday afternoon from Medford.
 
After seeing Hamilton put up 77 points in their first meeting this season, the Cardinals locked down defensively and held the Continentals to just 31.1 percent (19-for-61) shooting from the floor and just 2-of-10 (20 percent) from the three-point line. The Cardinals frustrated Hamilton's guard duo of Kelcie Zarle (22 points, 8-24 FG) and Emily Hall (13 points, 4-14 FG) who combined for 35 of the Continentals' 52 points but they did so while shooting just 31.6 percent. Aside from Zarle and Hall, the rest of Hamilton's lineup scored just 17 points for the game.
 
On the offensive end of the floor, it was Tori DaCosta '25 who factored heavily with career-highs in both points (16) and rebounds (16) while she managed a double-double for the second straight game. Joining DaCosta in double figures was Marina Petruzzi '22 who tallied 13 points, a career-high six assists and four rebounds in 32 minutes. Maddie Clark '22 added 10 points, five rebounds and three assists while Caleigh Ryan '22 chipped in nine points, 10 rebounds and three assists while playing all 40 minutes. For Ryan, this marks her eighth straight game with double-digit rebounds. Brooke Guiffre '23 also played a solid game with eight points, five rebounds, two assists, three steals and no turnovers in 31 minutes.
 
The two sides traded blows for a majority of the first quarter, with neither team leading by more than four points, up until the final stages when the Cardinals had a five-point cushion on two occasions before closing out the frame with a 16-12 advantage. Seven different Cardinals scored at least one point in the first.
 
DaCosta continued her strong start to the game with a rebound off a Petruzzi miss, which she cleaned up for two points to make it 18-12 Wesleyan early in the second quarter. The lead hovered around six until DaCosta again finished in the paint while Petruzzi hit a pull-up with just under three minutes left in the half as the Cardinals led 25-17. Hamilton finished the half on a high note as Zarle and Emma Sehring scored to make it 25-21 Cardinals at the half.
 
The game-defining run came early in the third quarter when Wesleyan rattled off nine unanswered points in a span of just under two minutes to suddenly stretch their lead from four points all the way to 13. Petruzzi hit two jumpers in the 9-0 Wesleyan run while Ryan connected on a triple from the wing.
 
Hamilton tried to get back in the game but only managed to cut the deficit down to eight points with 3:37 left in the third, only to see the Cardinals answer right back with a jumper from Maggie Lee '23 followed by a pair of Ryan free throws.
 
Leading by 12 entering the fourth, Guiffre managed a steal and score followed by a three-pointer on the next trip down the floor and it was 49-32 Wesleyan, stretching their lead to the largest of the day at 17. Hamilton would only get to within eight of the Cardinal lead before Wesleyan ultimately iced away a 63-52 postseason win on their home floor in front of a packed Silloway Gymnasium.
 
The Cardinals now head on the road for the NESCAC Quarterfinals where they will meet Tufts for a 4:30 PM start on Sunday. The two sides met already once this season with the Jumbos winning in Middletown 86-66 back on January 7.