Wheaton Wins Overtime Thriller Against MIT, 61-58

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Brickley notches double-double with 23 points, ten boards

NORTON, Mass. – Junior forward Lauren McClelland (Scituate, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) hit a go-ahead jump shot with 34-seconds remaining in the contest to give the Wheaton College women's basketball team an eventual 61-58 overtime victory over MIT on Wednesday night in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action at Emerson Gymnasium.

Sophomore forward Abbie Brickley (Sandy, Utah/Skyline) poured in a game-high 23 points on 9-of-23 shooting (5-for-6 from the free throw line), ten rebounds, three assists and two steals. Classmate Kenzie Kuhn (Glenwood Springs, Colo./Glenwood Springs) collected 11 points, four rebounds and one assist while freshman Kiley Shoemaker (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) and sophomore Kirsten Ferrari (Lynn, Mass./Saint Mary's) added seven points apiece.

Engineers sophomore guard Mari Kordell (Ijamsville, Md./Urbana) notched 23 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals to lead the visitors. Freshman forward Maya Ramachandran (Fremont, Calif./Mission San Jose) added ten points, seven boards and four blocks. Sophomore forward Michelle Battipaglia (Katonah, N.Y./Somers) tallied eight points and hauled in eight caroms.

Trailing 58-57 after Kordell sank a pair of free throws for MIT with 47-seconds remaining in the contest, McClelland provided the game-winning shot for the Lyons with a jumper just above the free throw line for her only basket of the night. Brickley fed McClelland with the wide open look after drawing a double team on the low block. Sophomore guard Laura Pierce (Hampstead, N.H./Pinkerton Academy) closed out the scoring with a made free throw with four-seconds left to play.

Both teams exchanged the lead three times in overtime as Brickley opened up the scoring with a layup at 3:52 for a 53-51 advantage. Kordell answered for the Engineers swishing a wide open three-pointer on a nice pass from teammate Lauren Sascha Burton (Seattle, Wash./Nathan Hale) at 3:19. A jumper from Kuhn at 2:24 gave Wheaton a 55-54 lead before Kordell responded again for the visitors with a layup at 2:04 for a 56-55 margin. Brickley connected on her last bucket of game at 1:08 to push the score in favor of the Lyons, 57-56.

In the second half, Wheaton erased a 14-point deficit – the largest of the night – with 10:09 left to play using a 20-6 run to tie the score at 49-49 with 2:28 remaining. Senior guard Hallie Vitagliano (Newton, Mass./Newton North) sparked the run with a three-pointer at 9:54 and jumper at 9:13. Brickley contributed five points while Shoemaker and Ferrari added four each. McClelland tied the contest with a pair of free throws (2:28) and Brickley gave Wheaton the lead, 51-49, with a hook shot from the right elbow with 23-seconds remaining. Kordell forced the overtime session with an uncontested layup with six-seconds left to play.

The Lyons shot 37.9-percent (22-for-58) from the floor, 66.7-percent (2-for-3) from beyond the arc and 68.2-percent (15-for-22) at the free throw line. The Engineers connected on 32.2-percent (19-for-59) of their field goals, 23.1-percent (3-for-13) on their three-point attempts and 68.0-percent (17-for-25) at the line. Wheaton outrebounded MIT, 46-36, and outscored the guests, 32-24, in the paint. The Engineers held a 25-13 margin in points off of turnovers and a 7-4 differential in fast break points. The Lyons bench outscored their opposition, 18-12.

Wheaton (7-9, 4-5 NEWMAC) travels to Springfield College on Saturday, January 19 for a NEWMAC clash with tip-off scheduled for 10 a.m. MIT (7-8, 3-6 NEWMAC) visits Smith College for a conference matchup on Saturday at 2 p.m.