WPI 52, Mount Holyoke 47 

Worcester, MA --- Caitlin Macko's (Cromwell, CT) driving layup with 1:20 remaining gave WPI the lead for good in a 52-47 defensive-minded victory over Mount Holyoke in NEWMAC women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon. With the win, WPI, winners of five straight and ten of its last 11, improves to 13-5 on the season and 6-1 in conference play. The Lyons drop to 13-6 and 5-2 in league action.

The Engineers led by 12 with 6:36 remaining and had limited Mount Holyoke to just one field goal in 22 attempts over the first 16:37 of the second half before Angela Astuccio (Foxboro, MA) drained a trio of three-pointers in a 45 second span to turn a 46-38 deficit into a 47-46 advantage with just 2:38 remaining. After Macko put WPI back on top, senior Meghan Pajonas (Bristol, CT) drained four free throws in the final 37 seconds to help secure the WPI victory.

Pajonas finished with 17 points and a season-best 12 rebounds en route to notching her third double-double of the season. Macko chipped in with 11 points while Michele Perry (Pelham, NH) added nine points and three steals and Kate Maki (Fitchburg, MA) collected seven points.

Astuccio paced all scorers with 21 points for the Lyons. Joeanna Silvey (Boston, MA) also played well, tallying 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. Jessica Olson (Gilbert, AZ) dished out a game-high 6 assists for Mount Holyoke while Marissa Barone (Ludlow, MA) dropped in eight points and corralled 11 rebounds on the day.

The game, which was marred by 27 second half fouls, featured the two top scoring defenses in the NEWMAC and two of the four teams that entered play Saturday in a four-way tie atop the conference standings. WPI and Wheaton (a 58-40 winner at MIT) are now one game up on Mount Holyoke and Babson (a 53-45 loser versus Clark) at just past the midway point of league action.

Both teams will return to action on Wednesday with key NEWMAC road contests. WPI will face cross-town rival Clark at 7pm while Mount Holyoke travel to Springfield for a 7pm game.