BABSON PARK, Mass.—Visiting MIT rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit and went 9-of-11 from the free throw line in the second overtime period on its way to defeating Babson College, 78-74, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Wednesday night at Staake Gymnasium.

Babson, which saw its 20-game regular season conference winning streak come to an end, is now 15-4 and 9-1 in league play, while MIT improves to 15-3 overall and 9-1 in the NEWMAC with its fifth straight victory.

Senior Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) finished with a career-high 31 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Beavers. Senior Taylor Russell (Braintree, Mass.) scored 12 points, first-year Jacqueline Jozefick (Milford, Conn.) added 11 points and senior Jennifer Narlee (Medfield, Mass.) led all players with a career-high 18 rebounds and four blocks.

Sophomore Taylor V'Dovec (Blaine, Wash.) scored 29 points on 12-of-19 shooting, while senior Liana Ilutzi (East Hanover, N.J.) contributed 16 points and seven rebounds for the Engineers. Every member of MIT's starting five played at least 43 minutes in the win.

Pickering scored eight first-quarter points and the Green and White held the Engineers to just one field goal over the first nine minutes to build a 12-5 lead. The Beavers then opened the second quarter by making six of their first nine shots to push the advantage to 25-11 on a three-pointer by sophomore Tea Spellacy (Belchertown, Mass.) with 4:49 to go until halftime. Russell matched the lead a little over two minutes later and junior Brenna LeGacy (Attleboro, Mass.) converted a late hoop to give the hosts a 29-18 edge at the break.

MIT wasted little time erasing the deficit connecting on its first eight field goal attempts to start the third quarter to go along with 17 points from V'Dovec to build a 44-39 advantage late in the frame. The Green and White got within two after a bucket by Jozefick two minutes into the fourth, but three-pointers by sophomore Kristen Ngan (Sudbury, Mass.) and Ilutzi gave the Engineers a 54-46 lead, their biggest of the night, with 4:18 left in regulation.

Pickering responded by scoring the Beavers' final 10 points, which included a pair of free throws with 11 seconds remaining, to send the game to overtime. MIT erased a three-point deficit with five straight points from Ilutzi to go in front 61-59 with 1:25 left in the first extra session, but Pickering countered with back-to-back hoops to give Babson the lead back with 46 seconds to go. The Engineers tied the game again on their next possession when Yuan drained a pair of free throws with 28 seconds remaining.

MIT, which missed two free throws with 2.5 seconds left in the first overtime, scored on its first four possessions of the second extra frame, including a three-point play from sophomore Kara Holinski (Livonia, Mich.) to make it 72-65 at the 2:06 mark. Pickering drained a three-pointer from the left wing to pull Babson within 72-70, but the Engineers knocked down six free throws over the final 35 seconds to seal the win.

Both teams return to action on Saturday as Babson hosts Smith at 1 p.m., while MIT visits Springfield at 2 p.m.

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are 50-11 all-time against MIT, but have dropped back-to-back home games to the Engineers.
•    Babson, which finished with a 54-44 edge on the glass, is now 14-3 on the year when outrebounding its opponents.
•    Wednesday loss dropped the Beavers to 9-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points.
•    The loss also snapped Babson's nine-game winning streak when holding its opponents below 40 percent shooting.