WPI Runs To 62-42 NEWMAC Victory Over Wellesley Basketball

WORCESTER – WPI junior Ama Biney (Worcester, Mass.) scored a game-high 19 points to lead the host Engineers to a 62-42 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win over Wellesley College basketball on Saturday afternoon.

WPI ended a two-game skid with the victory, improving to 19-4 overall and and 11-3 in NEWMAC contests. Wellesley is now 8-12 on the year and 4-10 in conference games.

Junior Brittney Lambert (Hudson, N.H.) added a career-high 17 points off the bench for the Engineers, knocking down five three-pointers in 23 minutes of action. Senior Priscilla Dunphy (Barrington, R.I.) secured a game-high seven rebounds, while Biney, Dunphy and junior Stasha Greenalch (Newington, Conn.) each tallied four assists and three steals for WPI. Greenalch also added seven points.

Wellesley junior Kayla Jang (South Pasadena, Calif.) dropped in 11 points and recorded two assists to lead the Blue. Sophomore Zojajha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) also finished in double-figures, scoring ten points to go along with five rebounds and a blocked shot. First year Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) had a Blue-best six rebounds, while first year Lauren Dines (Tenafly, N.J.) added seven points, on 3-of-6 shooting, and three rebounds.

A back-and-forth opening four minutes gave way to an 11-2 WPI run, as the hosts turned a 7-5 deficit at the 6:16 mark of the first to a 16-9 lead when Greenalch capped the run with 3:26 left in the quarter. Wellesley closed the gap to 16-11 on their next possession, but WPI scored 10 of the final 12 points in the quarter to take a 26-13 lead at the end of the first. WPI then scored the first six points of a low scoring second quarter, limiting the Blue without a bucket until the 2:17 mark, before carrying a 38-19 lead into halftime.

WPI built its largest lead of the contest in the third quarter when Lambert dropped in her fifth and final triple to build the Engineer advantage to 25, at 54-29, with 46 seconds left before the fourth. WPI outscored the Blue 16-10 in the third, shooting 46.2 percent from the floor to carry the 25-point edge into the fourth. The Blue rallied in the fourth to outscore WPI, 13-8, but never threatened the Engineers, as WPI closed out the 62-42 victory.

WPI knocked down 52 percent (26-50) of their attempts from the floor, scoring 20 points off of turnovers while outscoring the Blue 30-6 in the paint. Wellesley finished the game at 32.6 percent (15-46) from the field and had a 31-27 lead in rebounding.

Wellesley will welcome MIT to Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on Wednesday, February 15, at 7:00 PM. WPI will play across town at Babson on Wednesday at 7:30 PM.