CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The tandem of Kathleen King and Nicki Wurdeman accounted for 58 percent of Babson College's offense in its 72-38 victory over MIT in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball game on Thursday night. King led all scorers with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting from the floor and a 2-of-3 outing at the free throw line while Wurdeman registered 15 points as the nationally-ranked No. 5 Beavers improved to 20-0 on the year and 13-0 in conference play. Lauren Sascha Burton paced the Engineers (8-11, 4-9 NEWMAC) with nine points, six rebounds, and three steals.
A layup by Rachel Hunt put MIT in front, 6-5, but Babson responded by scoring 18 out of the next 19 points to take the lead for good as its margin eventually grew to 32-13 with 4:08 on the clock. The Engineers mounted a 7-2 spurt down the stretch while King's basket created a 36-20 advantage for the Beavers at the break.
Babson broke open the game courtesy of an 18-2 run during the first five minutes of the second stanza. King contributed 10 points, including six straight to start the half. The visitors maintained their comfortable cushion throughout the frame with a basket by Kelly McKenna resulting in the Beavers' largest lead of the night (72-35) with 54 seconds remaining in regulation. Sydney Beasley's three-pointer on MIT's ensuing possession capped the scoring.
Hunt finished with six points and a block as Margo Batie posted five points and five rebounds. Stephanie Cooke chipped in four points and four boards, including three off the offensive glass. Kristen Whaley and Tamara Pena both dished out two assists as Whaley hauled in five rebounds.
In addition to her double-digit scoring performance, Wurdeman added five assists, five rebounds, two steals, and two blocks. Sarah Collins compiled 10 rebounds, eight points, two blocks, and two steals as Becky Bowman distributed six assists. Damisi Adewumi bolstered the rebounding corps with seven caroms.
As a team, Babson shot 49.1 percent on the night and finished with advantages in points in the paint (44-16), points off turnovers (23-14), and bench scoring (20-11).
Both squads continue conference play on Saturday, Feb. 5. MIT will travel to Wellesley College while Babson will host WPI.