Fontaine and Dubois Guide Women's Basketball to 58-47 Win vs. Wheaton

WPI 58, Wheaton 47

Worcester, MA --- Elle Fontaine (Franklin, MA) poured in a career-best 19 points and Serena Dubois (Bangor, ME) corralled a career-high 16 rebounds to lift host WPI to a 58-47 victory over Wheaton in NEWMAC women's basketball action on Wednesday evening. With the victory, WPI improves to 11-4 on the year and 3-0 in conference play while Wheaton slips to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in NEWMAC action.

In a match-up of the last two NEWMAC regular season champions, it was the 2008 champion Lyons who took a 25-24 advantage into the locker room at intermission. The duo of Bri Smith (Westford, MA) and Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA) paced Wheaton with 17 first half points.

The Engineers came out sizzling to start the second stanza and rattled 10 of the first 12 points, capped by a traditional 3-point play by Dubois. The Lyons would get as close as three at 39-36 midway through the second half, but a quick 13-5 WPI spurt put the game out of reach.

The Crimson and Gray enjoyed a 43-29 rebounding advantage, including an eye-popping 24-4 edge on the offensive glass. Point guard Natasha Deschene (Presque Isle, ME) equaled her career-high with 10 rebounds while Fontaine, who is averaging 16.6 points over her last five games, gobbled up seven boards.

Kaileen Selen (Worcester, MA) highlighted the WPI defensive effort with six steals to go along with eight points and a team-best three assists. Dubois and Fontaine collected three and two blocks respectively.

Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH) led the Lyons with 13 points, including 10 in the second half. The senior also hauled in a team-high six boards. Smith ended up with 12 points while Champney chipped in with nine. Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA) distinguished herself with five rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Lyons versus NEWMAC opponents, dating back to last February.

Both teams hit the road for NEWMAC contests on Saturday at 2pm. WPI heads down Park Ave. to take on city rival Clark. The Engineers will be looking to avenge a one point loss to the Cougars in the championship game of the City Tournament. Wheaton travels to Smith.

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