WENHAM, Mass.—New England College finished off a sweep at the Gordon College Thanksgiving Classic with a 58-53 triumph over the host Scots. The Pilgrims used a late spurt to keep the Scots from completing a fourth-quarter comeback. Wentworth soundly defeated Lesley 58-33 in the first game of the afternoon at the Bennett Center on Saturday.
 
Game One
 
Wentworth bounced back from a last-second defeat on Friday by handing Lesley a 58-33 loss. The Leopards led cover to cover and held a lead as large as 32 points to earn their second victory of the young season.
 
Rachael Camara (Fall  River, Mass.) paced the Leopards all day with made threes in bunches. The senior guard made six of seven attempts from behind the arch, including three in the first quarter as the Leopards built up an 18-4 lead.
 
Lesley found a spark from sophomore guard Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) in the second half, but Wentworth's lead was too great by that point. The reserve point guard went 50-percent from the floor for 14 points to lead the Lynx. Lesley outscored the Leopards 11-6 in the final period.
 
Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) also had a standout game for Lesley with six points and 10 rebounds.
 
Three Wentworth players finished in double figures with Camara leading the way at 19. All six of her makes from the field came from behind the arch. Kellie Messer (Hollis, N.H.) had 10 points and seven points, while Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) had 10 points and a team-high seven assists. Michelle McCloskey (Madison, Conn.) led the team in rebounds with seven and had two blocks off the bench.
 
Game Two
 
New England College handed Gordon its first loss of the season in the final game of the 2015 classic. The Pilgrims scored the final four points of the game to break open a one-point contest, as Gordon struggled to break through the NEC pressure at the very end.
 
Gordon looked like the team with some rhythm coming off the opening tip when they ran out to an 11-6 advantage through nine minutes. The Pilgrims hit a fast-break layup with under a minute to go in the first quarter to draw within three.
 
With the game even at 15 midway through the second quarter, New England College took control of Gordon turnovers to grab a big lead. The Pilgrims scored 12 straight points on a flurry of made triples from first-year Mikala Malboeuf (Fitchburg, Mass.).
 
Gordon used a timeout to help mount a small rally, crawling back within six points in just a minute's time. After a made free throw by Marjani Lillard (Bowie, Md.), Jamie Tafoya (Fort Collins, Colo.) hit a nice step-back jumper to bring the Scots within five points. However Malboeuf hit another three on the Pilgrims final possession of the half to take a 31-23 lead into the intermission.
 
NEC's lead hovered between five points and eight points for much of the third quarter when Gordon made another run. A deep three from Olivia Stark (Arvada, Colo.) brought Gordon within a single possession at 35-33. A few minutes later Gordon finally tied the game at 38 all when Jess Ryan (Milford, N.H.) also hit a deep ball off a kick out by Megan Jenkerson (McDonough, Ga.).
 
The Pilgrims temporarily staved off the comeback with a pair of buckets from Breana Ramirez (Paterson, N.J.) in the last minute of the third.
 
Gordon grabbed its first lead since the first quarter when Tafoya scored five straight points to give the Scots a 49-45 advantage with six to play.
 
Lillard became a one-woman wreaking crew for Pilgrims, scoring six consecutive points of her own, while creating turnovers on the defensive end.
 
Ryan made two free throws with 3:40 to go, knotting the game at 51. However, Lillard, an upperclassman, outscored the Scots at a team 6-2 down the stretch and sealed the game.
 
Lillard led all players with 26 points and 15 rebounds. She also dished out six assists and had four steals, which earned her the award of tournament MVP. Malboeuf scored 14 points in the first half and finished with 16 overall. Ramirez was a defensive force for the Pilgrims with 10 boards and three rejections.
 
Tafoya had a solid outing for Gordon with 17 points and six rebounds off the bench. Gordon's starters finished with only 23 points on the day. Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) had the best game of the bunch with nine points and nine rebounds. Stark had eight points and six dimes.
 
NEC outrebounded Gordon 55-45 thanks to 20 offensive rebounds on the day.