Wellesley Basketball Shoulders 76-44 Setback To MIT

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Sophomores Kara Holinski (Livonia, Mich.) and Dolly Yuan (San Jose, Calif.) combined for 31 points to lead MIT to a 76-44 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory over Wellesley College basketball on Wednesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse. 

MIT improves to 20-4 (13-2 NEWMAC) with their fifth-straight victory, while also clinching a 20-win season for the first time since the Engineers went 20-8 during the 1998-99 campaign. Wellesley drops to 8-13 overall and 4-11 in conference

Holinski led all scorers with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting. Yuan added 15 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists for the Engineers, who have now won six-straight against the Blue. Sophomore Maude Gull (Zurich, Switzerland) chipped in with 10 points off the bench, while classmate Taylor D'Vovec (Blaine, Wash.) scored nine points and grabbed a game-high nine boards. First year guard Cindy Si (San Antonio, Texas) added seven points and four assists, while tying for game-high honors with nine rebounds. Senior guard Liana Ilutzi (East Hanover, N.J.) dished out a game-high five assists.

First year Lauren Dines (Tenafly, N.J.) dropped in 11 points to lead the Blue. Senior Ailis Hanley (Cranston, R.I.) scored nine points and pulled down four rebounds. Sophomore Zojajha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) had a team-high six rebounds to go along with four points and a pair of steals. First year Keer Sun (Pine Brook, N.J.) chipped in with six points and four rebounds in 20 minutes off of the Wellesley bench.

MIT overwhelmed the Blue in the opening quarter, scoring the games first eight points and holding the Blue without a field goal until Kayla Jang (South Pasadena, Calif.) knocked down a triple to make the score 12-5 in favor of the visitors at 2:39. MIT closed out the quarter on a 7-1 run, taking a 19-6 edge into the second. MIT tacked an 8-2 run on to their first quarter lead to take a 19-point lead, at 27-8, at 6:27 of the second. The Engineers would maintain their edge for the remainder of the half, eventually leading 25-16 at the break.

Yuan and Ayub exchanged buckets in the opening minute of the second half, but the Blue, despite dropping in 16 third quarter points, could do little to slow the MIT attack. MIT went on to outscore Wellesley, 20-16, in the third quarter, as Yuan scored eight of her 15 points in the stanza. MIT would take a 55-32 lead into the fourth, before closing out the 76-44 final.

MIT finished at 47.6 percent (30-63) from the floor, knocking down 11 triples and racking up 18 assists as a squad. The Blue held a 26-22 advantage in points in the paint, but finished at just 29.1 percent (16-55) from the field. MIT also won the battle on the boards, 42-30. 

Wellesley will stay home to close out the season on Saturday, February 18, with a 2:00 PM NEWMAC contest versus Wheaton. MIT will travel to WPI for their regular season finale on Saturday at 1:00 PM.