WPI 72, Wellesley 57
Box
Score
Wellesley, MA --- Junior Kaileen
Selen (Worcester, MA) erupted for a career-high 28 points
as the WPI women's basketball team earned a 72-57 win at Wellesley
on Wednesday night. The victory improves the Engineers to a
conference best 16-5 overall (8-1 NEWMAC) while the Blue fall
to 8-8 (2-6 NEWMAC).
Wellesley got on the board first, with a three-pointer from
Jessica Duff (Milton, Abingdon, UK) to take the
early lead. WPI answered with a 14-6 run, courtesy of two
buckets each from Serena Dubois (Bangor, ME) and
Selen, to take a 14-9 lead. But Wellesley battled back with
hot shooting from Courtney Richter (Sinking Springs, PA) to cut the
lead to 22-21 at the 9:10 mark.
WPI responded with five straight points to stretch the lead back
to six, before a 10-foot jumper from Wellesley's Richter trimmed
the Engineers' advantage to 27-23. The visitors then tallied six
consecutive points to push the lead to 10, behind a solid
performance from Selen (12 first-half points). But Wellesley closed
out the half with four straight, including a trey from Elisha Orama
(Miramar, FL), as the teams went to the locker rooms with the Blue
trailing 33-27.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Wellesley trimmed the
lead to 36-33. Then the squads traded buckets until four straight
points from KD Stearns (Eustis, FL) brought the Blue to within two
at 41-39. The Engineers replied with four points of their own to
stretch their lead back to six, but two free throws from Duff kept
the Blue within four with 11:00 left on the clock.
The teams exchanged baskets once again until two more free
throws from Duff -- the 999th and 1000th points of her career --
cut the lead to 52-49 with 7:30 left. But Selen and Elle
Fontaine (Franklin, MA) led the Engineers on an 8-2 run to
open an eight-point edge with 4:30 remaining. The visitors never
looked back, coasting to a 72-56 victory.
WPI's Selen led all scorers with a career-high 28 points,
surpassing her previous high of 23 (at Fitchburg State on 12/1/07
and vs Clark on 1/19/09). Selen also tallied four rebounds
and five steals in the win. Caitlin Macko
(Cromwell, CT) and Fontaine added 11 and 10 points, respectively,
while Natasha Deschene (Presque Island, ME) led
the Engineers on the boards with five rebounds.
Duff notched her 12th double-double of the year with 17 points
and 17 rebounds. Richter added 12 points and seven boards, while
Orama tallied eight points and Robyn Burleson (Seattle, WA) chipped
in seven points.
Both teams return to the court for NEWMAC action on Saturday,
February 6. WPI will host Smith at 2:00 pm, while Wellesley will
travel to Mount Holyoke for a 2:00 pm match-up.
Story Courtesy of Wellesley Sports Information
