Worcester, MA --- Junior Kelly Morgan (Brookline, NH) and sophomore Dani Davis (East Granby, CT) each tossed in 13 points and freshman Haili Welton (Southbury, CT) added 12 to lead WPI to a 86-25 victory over crosstown rival Becker in a semifinal of the 32nd annual Worcester City Women's Basketball Tournament.
The Engineers, the two-time defending tournament champions, will play either Clark or Worcester State in Saturday's title game at 4pm. Becker takes to the court at 2pm in the consolation contest.
After an early 2-2 tie, WPI embarked upon a 21-2 run and never looked back. The hosts forced 21 first half turnovers en route to a 47-10 halftime advantage and limited the Hawks to 14.0% (8-of-57) shooting from the floor for the game.
The beginning of the second half was evenly matched as the Crimson and Gray outscored the visitors by a narrow 12-10 edge in the opening 7:30 minutes. WPI rattled off the next 11 points, including five points from Morgan and a 3-pointer by Welton to keep Becker at bay.
Morgan drained 5-of-7 shots on her way to sharing game-high scoring honors with Davis. Co-captain Theresa Logan (Southboro, MA) chipped in eight points and hauled in a game-best 10 rebounds. Freshman Meghan Lutz (Sudbury, MA) registered eight points while classmates Lisa Mendez (Yonkers, NY) and Yasmeen Luna (North Providence, RI) both added seven.
Siena Mamayek (Melrose, MA) contributed nine rebounds as WPI held a 54-38 edge on the match. The Engineers were also efficient from the free throw line, canning 83.3% (15-of-18) of their attempts.
Haley Ooms (Valatie, NY) and Chelsea Joubert (Westborough, MA) paced the Hawks with seven points each while Tatiana Mojica (Worcester, MA) added six and joined Ooms with a team-best six boards. Ooms and WPI's Rachel Pineda (Shrewsbury, MA) shared game-high honors with three assists each.