NORTHAMPTON, Mass.— First-year Stephanie Soto-Rivera (Chestnut Hill, Mass./Beaver Country Day School) led the Pioneers with 13 points and seven rebounds but Smith couldn't overcome the hot-shooting Engineers of MIT, who made a season-best 52.8 percent of their attempts from the field en route to a 70-62 win Saturday afternoon at Ainsworth Gymnasium.

With the win, MIT snaps a 16-game losing streak to the Pioneers and improves to 6-8 overall and 2-3 in the conference. Smith falls to 4-8 overall and 1-4 in the NEWMAC.

Sophomore Mandy Castro (San Diego, Calif./Poway) chipped in 12 points and first-yearSamantha Alakai (Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) added 10 points and three rebounds. Senior Lauren Weston (Florence, Mass./Northampton) finished with seven boards, and sophomore Jade Chihara (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) tallied three steals and three assists.

Sophomore Liana Ilutzi (East Hanover, N.J.) led four Engineers in double figures with a game-high 24 points and six assists. Junior Sabrina Drammis (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) recorded her 10^th double-double of the season with 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Engineers. Classmate Maya Ramachandran (Fremont, Calif.) contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and a game-high five blocks, while senior Osheiza Otori (Metairie, La.) added 12 points and five rebounds.

The Engineers never trailed in the contest and opened a 17-10 lead on a three-pointer by Otori at the 9:58 mark. Soto-Rivera answered with a layup to draw the Pioneers to within five (17-12), but MIT followed with an Ilutzi layup in transition and senior Alexxis Isaac (San Antonio, Texas) buried a two to give the Engineers a 21-12 lead with 8:15 to play in the opening stanza.

Smith answered with a 6-2 run to get to within five (23-18) with 5:24 remaining in the half, but MIT countered with an 11-2 spurt to close out the half with a 34-20 lead. Ilutzi had a pair of hoops during the run, including a layup in transition to make it 34-18 with 1:36 left in the period.

MIT shot 53.6 percent (15-of-28) in the first half, while holding the Pioneers to just eight field goals and 28 percent shooting.

Smith scored on four-straight possessions out of the locker room, including six points by Alakai, to cut their deficit to 10, but the Engineers pushed their advantage to 12 with a layup by Isaacs with 16:50 to go. Smith refused to go away quietly though, as it responded with a 10-7 spurt to cut the margin to 47-38 on a layup by Soto-Rivera with 10:56 to play.

The Pioneers would get as close as eight on a three by Castro with 1:04 to play, but MIT made a pair of free throws to push the lead back to double-digits. Castro again sank a three to get Smith to within seven with 10 seconds to play, but it was too little, too late for the Pioneers.

The Engineers shot a season-high 52.8 percent (28-of-53) from the floor and held a 33-to-28 advantage on the glass.

The Pioneers shot 38.6 percent (22-of-57) and scored 15 points off 14 Engineers' turnovers.

Smith returns to action on Tuesday when they host the Coast Guard Academy at 7 p.m., while MIT travels to Emerson College on Thursday at 7 p.m.