WPI 61, Tufts 55 

Worcester, MA --- Host WPI survived a late push by Tufts to defeat the Jumbos, 61-55, to claim the 2006 WPI Invitational Tournament Championship at Harrington Auditorium on Sunday.

WPI (6-4) has now won three out of the last five year-end tournaments. Tufts, playing in the tournament for the first time, drops to 7-2.

The Engineers held a 12-point, 42-30 lead when the Jumbos made a spirited comeback. Starting with four made free throws by Taryn Miller-Stevens (Avon, CT), Tufts went on a 17-4 run to take a brief 47-46 lead.

With 4:11 left and a 50-47 deficit following a Valerie Krah (Mountain Lakes, NJ) 3-pointer, WPI reclaimed the lead with a 9-0 run that saw Emily Allietta (Sandwich, MA) swish a 17-footer to make it 50-49. She then torched the nets with a 3-pointer of her own to put the Crimson and Gray ahead 54-50 with 2:46 remaining.

Tufts made it a 56-53 game following a Miller-Stevens basket and a free throw by Libby Park (Massena, NY), but the Engineers scored five of the next seven points, all on free throws, to ice the victory.

Trailing by two, 26-24, at the half, WPI went on a 14-2 run to begin the second stanza. Kate Maki (Fitchburg, MA) opened the half with a 3-pointer, before Karen Krasko (North Branford, CT), Meghan Pajonas (Bristol, CT) and Caitlin Macko (Cromwell, CT) all added points.

Krah led all scorers with 15 points, while Miller-Stevens added 14. Jenna Gomez (Norfolk, MA) scored 10 for the Jumbos.

For WPI, Macko and Pajonas each scored 11 points, while Allietta contributed 10 points to the victory.

Pajonas was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. The All-Tournament Team is as follows: Allietta - WPI, Laura Jasinski (Leverett, MA) – Tufts, Vanessa Arthurton (Troy, NY) – Plattsburgh State, and Paige Schneider (Windsor, CT) – Elms.