WPI Fends Off Blue Basketball Comeback in 52-41 NEWMAC Contest
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
WPI (12-12,4-6 NEWMAC) | 9 | 14 | 13 | 16 | 52 |
|
Wellesley (9-13,2-8 NEWMAC) | 6 | 8 | 10 | 17 | 41 |
WELLESLEY, Mass. – Despite a fourth quarter comeback effort from Wellesley College basketball, WPI earned a 52-41 NEWMAC win on Wednesday night at Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse.
Senior Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, Conn.) had a season-high 21 points with 11 rebounds for the Engineers (12-12 Overall, 4-6 NEWMAC). Kelly went nine-for-nine from the charity stripe. Junior Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, Mass.) added 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals
Junior Caitlin Windross (Eastvale, Calif.) paced the Blue (9-13 Overall, 2-8 NEWMAC) with 15 points and nine rebounds. First year Anna Bandini (Raleigh, N.C.) stuffed three shots.
Wellesley trailed 36-24 at the start of the fourth quarter. The Engineers ran the lead up to 16 at the 7:53 mark before Wellesley mounted an 8-0 run to get the game back to single digits with five and a half minutes left in the game.
The team traded baskets before a Windross three made it 46-41 with 1:49 left to play. Five was as close as the Blue came to tying the contest. WPI capitalized on four made free throws from first year Ava Giansiracusa (Wethersfield, Conn.) to close out a 52-41 victory.
WPI led 9-6 after a defensive first quarter. The Engineers extended its lead to double-digits at 23-12 with under two minutes left in the first half. A late layup from first year Trinity Barrow (Evans, Ga.) made it a nine point game at the end of one half.
The Blue cut the deficit to seven at 25-18 before WPI embarked on an 11-4 stretch to bring the score to 36-22. Barrow hit a late third quarter layup and the Engineers were up 36-24 after three to set up the fourth quarter comeback effort.
Wellesley went 17-for-53 (32.1%) and limited WPI to 16-of-59 (27.1%) shooting from the floor. The Engineers had a 43-35 edge in rebounds and scored 20 points off of turnovers. WPI went 17-for-18 (94.4%) at the foul line.
Both teams wrap up the regular season on Saturday, February 17. The Blue play a 1:00 PM game at Smith while the Engineers host Wheaton at the same time.