CAMBRIDGE, MA - In a match-up between a pair of women's basketball teams each returning to the hardwood for the first time in at least 19 days, Wheelock College fell at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the programs' initial meeting, 50-33, on Monday at Rockwell Cage. The Wildcats fell to 2-6, while the Engineers snapped a three-game losing skid in improving to 5-5.
Wheelock, which last played on Dec. 14, benefitted from sophomore Keneisha Milton's (Boston, MA/Wayland) third double-double in four games, and fourth of the season, as she collected 11 points, 12 rebounds and four steals while shooting 5-of-5 on free-throw tries. Senior Joy Holliday (Milford, MA/Milford) knocked down a pair of three-pointers en route to eight points, and junior Maya Spratling (Dorchester, MA/Cathedral) added seven. Classmate Kayla Drescher (Wallingford, CT/Mark T. Sheehan) notched six boards and four steals, and sophomore reserve Kailah Simon (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk) added four caroms and two steals.
Sophomore Lauren Sascha Burton (Seattle, WA/Nathan Hale) paced MIT with 16 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while three other players had at least seven points. Classmate Anna Merrifield (Honolulu, HI/Punahou School) totaled a team-high eight rebounds. The Engineers had not played since Dec. 10.
After trailing by as many as 22 points in the second half, Wheelock staged a furious comeback to within 10 points. With their team still trailing 43-22 with fewer than eight minutes remaining in regulation, Holliday and freshman Randi Davis (Wilmington, MA/Wilmington) canned back-to-back threes before Milton tallied five straight points to finish off an 11-0 run, creating a 43-33 contest with 5:10 left. Wheelock held the Engineers scoreless for a critical 5:13 stretch, but Milton's points proved to be the visitors' last, as MIT ended the game on a 7-0 run.
MIT scored the game's first 12 points before Spratling's three-point play at 15:25 of the opening half got Wheelock on the board, and Spratling's seven points brought the Wildcats within 16-7 at 7:23. From there, the Engineers pulled out to a 29-17 advantage by halftime.