MIT Basketball Tops Wellesley in NEWMAC Opener

WELLESLEY, Mass. – The visiting MIT women's basketball team posted a 45-39 victory over Wellesley College on Wednesday evening in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both teams. The win lifts the Engineers to 3-2 overall, while Wellesley dips to 1-3.

Both teams had early shooting struggles, but it was MIT that found its rhythm first. The Engineers opened on a 7-2 run, backed by five points from Mari Kordell. Wellesley climbed back into the game, outscoring MIT 12-5 over the next six minutes to take a 14-12 lead with 6:04 to play.

The Engineers rebounded with the next nine points, including back-to-back threes from Lauren Sascha Burton to make it 21-14 with 2:36 on the clock. Wellesley closed out the half with lay-ups from Morgyne Weaver and Ashleigh Sargent to narrow the gap to 21-18 at the break.

The Engineers shot 47% (8-17) from the field in the first half, while connecting on four of seven three pointers. Wellesley struggled offensively, shooting just 32% (8-25), while missing all three of its shots from behind the arc. 

MIT carried the momentum into the second half, scoring five quick points to build a 26-18 cushion in the first minute of play. Wellesley then spent the next 13 minutes erasing the deficit, finally tying the contest at 36-36 on a Meghan Sargent free throw with 6:31 remaining.

Following the game tying shot from Wellesley, MIT regained control, holding the Blue scoreless over the next five minutes. An Alexxis Isaac lay-up made it 41-36 in favor of MIT with 1:41 to play, before Ashleigh Sargent ended the Blue scoring drought with a free throw with 1:28 remaining. 

Behind 41-37, Wellesley had several opportunities at the line over the final minute and a half, but could not convert. MIT, meanwhile, was solid at the charity stripe, closing out the 45-39 victory. 

MIT shot 35% (15-42) from the field, while Wellesley recorded a 16-for-50 effort (32%). The Blue, however, only managed a 13% performance from beyond the arc, while connecting on less than half of their free throws (6-13). Wellesley held a slim 35-32 edge on the glass.  

For MIT, Isaac finished with a game-high 13 points, while also pulling down six rebounds. Burton, Maya Ramachandran, and Kordell each recorded seven points, with Ramachandran also picking up eight boards. 

Wellesley was led by eight points each from Weaver and Chelsi Scott, with Weaver recording a team-high seven boards. Malia Maier tallied eight assists, six rebounds and five points, while Natalie Anderson contributed five points in the loss.

Wellesley is back in action on Saturday, hosting Springfield at 2:00pm. MIT continues it road trip on Saturday, heading to WPI for a 2:00pm NEWMAC clash.