WORCESTER -- On a day that WPI women's basketball honored seniors Ally McMorrow (Quincy, MA), Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) and Shannon Reno (Millbury, MA) before its final regular season contest Saturday afternoon, the Engineers gave the trio the gift of playoff basketball as the Crimson and Gray defeated visiting Wheaton 60-30 to secure a spot in next week's NEWMAC Tournament.
 
WPI, which began NEWMAC play 0-3 and had alternated wins and losses over its last eight outings, won its second straight contest and completes the regular season with a 13-12 record and a 5-6 mark in league play.  The victory, coupled with Clark's loss to Babson, Salve Regina's loss to MIT and Emerson's lost to Springfield, not only clinched a postseason spot for the Engineers, but provides them the sixth seed and a quarterfinal matchup at third-seeded MIT on Wednesday at 7pm.   
 
Wheaton closes out the 2023-24 campaign 10-15 overall and a 2-9 record against NEWMAC foes.
 
Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) and Emmy Allyn (Rutland, MA) highlighted the Crimson and Gray efforts.  Niles delivered her third double-double of the season and her career, amassing 15 points and gobbling up a game-best 12 boards, while Allyn paced all players with 18 points, including a trio of 3-pointers.  Reno corralled a career-high nine rebounds, all off the defensive glass and doled out a game-best five assists, McMorrow added eight points, Caitlyn Dasaro (Fairfield, VT) contributed six points off the bench on 3-of-4 shooting and Kelly filled the stat sheet with five points, three offensive rebounds and three assists.
 
Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, PA) was the top scorer for the Lyons with six points, followed by Nasha Arnold (North Reading) who chipped in with five points and Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, CO) led the efforts on the defensive glass with seven boards.
 
WPI never trailed in the game and did not yield a field goal for the first 8:23 of the contest on its way to an 11-3 advantage.  The Lyons only connected on 2-of-11 field goal tries in the first quarter and found themselves trailing, 14-7, after the opening 10 minutes and 30-18 at the half.  The third quarter was tightly-contested with WPI outscoring the guests, 11-10, but the hosts found another gear in the fourth, accounting for 18 of the frame's 20 points with Allyn (8) and Niles (6) teaming up for 14.

On the day, the Engineers parlayed 22 Wheaton turnovers into 22 points and enjoyed a 30-16 edge in scoring in the paint and a 19-5 advantage in second choice points.  The team teams were dead even in bench with 14 apiece.