WPI 72, MIT 48
Box
Score
Worcester, MA --- Serena Dubois (Bangor, ME)
and Kaileen Selen (Worcester, MA) combined for 28
points to spark WPI to a 72-48 victory over visiting MIT in NEWMAC
women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon. WPI, who has now
won six straight and 14 of 15 in 2009, finishes the regular season
with a 20-5 mark, including a 12-1 record in NEWMAC play. It
is the fifth time in program history WPI has reached the 20-win
milestone and the first time in the regular season.
After MIT used a 8-1 spurt midway through the first half to
claim the lead, WPI embarked upon a 13-0 run to open up a 38-24
advantage. MIT's Jamie Simmons (Carlsbad,
CA) drained her third 3-pointer of the half with 11 seconds left
before intermission that appeared to give the visitors some
momentum, but WPI's Melissa Kuhn (Stoughton, MA)
canned a 3-pointer of her own to just beat the buzzer and give the
hosts a 41-27 halftime lead.
WPI never saw its advantage sliced to single digits in the
second half. Defense played a key role for Worcester's
Engineers, as they limited the guests to 28.6% shooting from the
floor in the second half and parlayed 25 MIT turnovers during the
game into 28 points.
Dubois led WPI with 16 points while Selen chipped in with 12
points and a game-best five steals. Elle
Fontaine (Franklin, MA) added nine points and eight
rebounds while Natasha Deschene (Presque Isle, ME)
contributed eight points, five rebounds, two assists and a pair of
steals. Deschene and classmate Caitlin Macko
(Cromwell, CT), who dished out five assists, were honored
prior to the game as part of the Senior Day festivities. The
senior class has won a program-record 74 games over the last four
years.
Simmons paced all scorers with 17 points on the day for
MIT. Cheryl Kwinn (Monroe, NY) drained
6-of-9 shots from the floor en route to registering 15
points. Her game-high 11 rebounds gave her the contest's only
double-double. Alice Yeh (Bellevue, WA)
added seven and hauled in five boards while Kristen
Whaley (Westboro, MA) tallied six points and six
rebounds.
MIT concludes its season with a 4-19 overall record and a 0-13
mark in conference action.
WPI will begin play in the NEWMAC Tournament on Wednesday with a
home quarterfinal contest at 7pm. The top-seeded Engineers
will take on either Coast Guard or Mount Holyoke after conference
tiebreakers have been applied this evening. The three squads
both finished NEWMAC play with a 4-9 record and tied for sixth
place. A WPI win on Wednesday would give the Engineers the
right to host next weekend's NEWMAC semifinals and championship.
