Worcester, MA --- Senior forward Theresa Logan (Southboro, MA) tallied all 12 of her points in the second half and sophomore point guard Rachel Pineda (Shrewsbury, MA) netted a career-best 11 points to lift host WPI to a 50-45 victory over Trinity in the opening game of the WPI Holiday Classic on Sunday afternoon.
The win is a season-high third straight for the Engineers, who improve to 6-3 while Trinity dips to 5-4.
After never leading in the opening stanza, the Engineers never trailed in the second half. Logan was key down the stretch as she was the only WPI player to score over the last six minutes. The co-captain recorded jumpers at 5:45 and 2:20 before draining four free throws in the final 39 seconds.
Trinity had a chance to tie the game came when Christina Raiti (Plainview, NY) hit a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left to close the gap to 47-45 and then forced a turnover on a five-second violation, however the Bantams could not capitalize.
The first half saw six ties and a lead no larger than five points. The teams were nearly dead even statistically, both shooting 8-of-29 from the field and 4-of-6 from the line and draining one 3-pointer. WPI held the narrowest of advantages in rebounds (22-21) and turnovers forced (11-10) and used a Dani Davis (East Granby, CT) jumper with 43 seconds to go before intermission to forge a 21-21 tie at the break.
Logan led all scorers with her 12 point performance. Pineda notched nine of her career-high 11 points in the first half while Davis stuffed the stat sheets with six points, a career-best 13 rebounds and a game-high five assists. Kelly Morgan (Brookline, NH) and Siena Mamayek(Melrose, MA) chipped in with six points apiece.
Raiti topped the Trinity scoring attack with 11 points. Shantel Hanniford (Nantucket, MA) registered all 10 of her points in the first half while corralling seven rebounds. Taylor Murtaugh (New York, NY) and Moriah Sweeney (Ramsey, NJ) aided the Bantam's effort on the boards with eight rebounds each while Sweeney and Emily Dixon (Norwood, MA) both tossed in six points.
Both teams wrap up play Monday in the WPI Holiday Classic. The host Engineers take on Westfield State at 3pm after Trinity squares off with Johnson & Wales at 1pm.