Weston, MA --- Keyed by a 13-0 spurt over the opening 2:43 of second quarter, the WPI women's basketball team jumped out at a 16-point halftime advantage en route to a 92-54 road triumph over Regis on Wednesday evening on Sister Therese Higgins Court.
The Engineers, playing in its first true road game of the campaign after splitting its opening two contests at the Worcester City Tournament hosted by Anna Maria, improve to 2-1 overall while Regis sees its record even out at 1-1 to start the season.
Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) had a career night for the Crimson and Gray. The graduate student drained 12-of-16 shots from the floor, including a perfect 4-of-4 from downtown on her way to 29 points. The mark eclipsed her previous career-best of 22 points established back in February of 2022 in a dramatic home victory against MIT. Kelly added seven rebounds and a pair of assists in the win despite not playing in the fourth quarter.
Ava Giansiracusa (Wethersfield, CT) was nearly as impressive, canning 5-of-7 shots to post 19 points. The sophomore guard canned 3-of-5 from behind the arc and 6-of-8 from the free throw line and chipped in with seven boards and three assists.
Allison Fullem (Underhill, VT) had the best game of her sophomore campaign. The sophomore forward notched 11 points and shared team-best rebounding honors with Giansiracusa and Kelly with seven.
Emmy Allyn (Rutland) tossed in seven points and set a new career-high with six assists and
Shannon Reno (Millbury, MA) and
Alyssa Cueto (Union City, NJ) each handed out four assists. WPI's 91 points equal the Engineers largest scoring outpoint since a 91-26 win at Cal Tech in November of 2005.
Regis'
Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, CT) totaled 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the floor and 9-of-10 from the charity stripe and grabbed five boards as
Jillian Perry (Melrose, MA) chipped in with nine points featuring a couple treys.
Regis used a 10-2 run in the first quarter to lead by as many as seven in the opening frame, but both teams shot an identical 50% from the floor in the first 10 minutes with the Pride ahead 16-15 after the opening stanza with Doherty and Kelly each tossing in eight points.
The guests used 62.5% shooting on 3-pointers in the second quarter to outscore the Pride 26-9 and take a 41-25 lead into the locker room at the break. Kelly and Giansiracusa accounted for 11 of the 13 points in the aforementioned second quarter run with the Engineers scoring assisted baskets on their first five possessions. At the same time, the WPI defense was excelling on the other side of the floor, limiting the Pride to just 3-of-15 (20.0%) shooting from the floor in the second quarter
The Wethersfield duo of Kelly and Giansiracusa continued their dominance after the break, combining for 15 of WPI's 26 third quarter points as the Engineers held a 25-point bulge (66-41) headed to the fourth quarter. WPI continued the scoring frenzy as the Engineers posted 26 points and held the hosts to just 13 points in the final quarter of action en route to the 92-54 win.
WPI shot a sizzling 58.2% from the floor and an even more impressive 59.1% (13-for-22) from 3-point land, including a jaw-dropping 12-of-17 (70.6%) over the final three quarters. WPI's 91 points equal the Engineers largest scoring outpoint since a 91-26 win at Cal Tech in November of 2005.
Both teams are back in action on Saturday afternoon. WPI hosts Rivier at 1pm in its home opener while Regis squares off with its third NEWMAC opponent of four in a row to start the season and seventh overall when they venture to Clark for a 2pm tipoff.
