WORCESTER – Sophomore Jocelyn Luizzi (Colchester, CT) and senior Kara Holinski (Livonia, MI) combined for 21 points and 11 rebounds in a 57-46 MIT victory over host WPI in a NEWMAC women's basketball matchup Saturday afternoon inside Harrington Auditorium.
Cambridge's Engineers improve to 14-5 overall and 8-3 in NEWMAC contests while the hosts slip to 7-11 and 2-8.
Luizzi led the guests with 11 points and six rebounds while Holinski led the starters with 10 points and five boards. Sophomore Kylie Gallagher (Upton, MA) and freshman Christina Antonakakis (Holmdel, NJ) each scored six points followed by senior Kristen Ngan (Sudbury, MA) and classmate Dolly Yuan (San Jose, CA) with five apiece.
WPI senior Alyssa Paul (Schaghticoke, NY) paced all players with 14 points, including eight in a 10-2 run in the fourth quarter, as junior Spencer Vinson (Los Angeles, CA) added nine points. Freshman Alex Scariati (Scotch Plains, NJ) contributed a game-highs of eight rebounds and four steals to go with five points and two assists. Both Vinson and Scariati played a contest-best 31 minutes and freshman Melanie Presseau (Manchester, NH) netted five points in nine minutes.
Worcester's Engineers staked an early 5-3 advantage 2:27 into the contest. Ngan then keyed a 7-0 run for MIT which was halted by 3-pointer by freshman McKenna Finken (Simsbury, CT) with 1:48 left in the first. Sophomore Caitlin Boermeester (Billerica, MA) interrupted another spurt by MIT with a triple as 4:03 remained until halftime. Yuan, however, responded with a three. Paul then used a personal 4-0 run only to see the guests score the final eight points heading into the break.
Both teams were productive over a span of 1:19 early in the fourth. WPI later embarked on a 10-2 run, highlighted by a pair of triples by Paul. The hosts went on to register a late 8-0 rally that featured field goals by freshmen Jordan Wynn (Groton, MA) and Lisa Cristiano (Valhalla, NY).
WPI travels to Coast Guard for a 7pm NEWMAC matchup on Wednesday while MIT steps out of conference action for a 7pm meeting at Wesleyan on Tuesday.