Wheaton Uses Second-Quarter Surge to Defeat Pride, 64-54

WESTON, Mass. — The Regis College women's basketball team welcomed Wheaton College (Mass.) to Higgins Court on Wednesday night, where the Lyons used a dominant second quarter to propel themselves to a 64-54 victory over the Pride, dropping Regis to 2-6 on the young season.

Madi Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.) continued her dominant stretch, producing a 32-point (13-17 FG), 14-rebound double-double, while Jillian Perry (Melrose, Mass.) added 15 points, knocking down three of her six attempts from beyond the arc.

Wheaton was led by Regan Keyter's 20 points and Kiki Walters' 19-point performance. Walters also filled the stat sheet with six steals and six rebounds to help secure the win.

How it Happened

A slow offensive start was jolted to life by back-to-back triples from Perry, tying the game at 10 with 3:30 left in the first quarter. The momentum fueled a six-point unanswered run to close the frame, capped by a buzzer-beating layup from Perry that put the Pride ahead 16-10.

The Pride maintained a narrow lead early in the second, but the Lyons capitalized on turnovers and swung the momentum with a dominant 16-0 run to end the frame and take a 31-20 advantage into the break.

Zancan snapped the scoring drought with a pair of free throws at the 8:24 mark before Perry connected on the Pride's first field goal since the 6:30 mark of the second quarter - a three that cut the deficit to 12. Zancan went on to score the Pride's remaining nine points of the third, keeping her team within striking distance at 46-34 to enter the final 10 minutes of action. 

Zancan added five more to start the fourth, and a Kailyn Smith (Chelmsford, Mass.) layup trimmed the deficit to single digits at 50-41 with under seven minutes remaining. However, the Lyons responded quickly, reestablishing a double-digit cushion and stretching the lead to as many as 15 following consecutive perfect trips to the line from Walters, making it 63-48 with 1:15 to go. The Pride battled to the end, with Zancan scoring the final six points to bring the margin back to 10, but Wheaton held on for a 64-54 victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Madi Zancan matched her career high with 32 points and recorded her fifth straight double-double. Her performance also elevated her career total to 1,388 points, moving her into fifth place on the Pride's all-time scoring list and surpassing Emilee Marro '15 (1,358 points).
• Jillian Perry posted her first back-to-back double-figure scoring performances of the season, knocking down three or more three-pointers in each of the last two games.

Up Next

The Pride return to Higgins Court this Saturday, December 6, to host the Falcons of Fitchburg State University in their final home game of the fall 2025 semester. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.