THE BASICS:

- Score: MIT 81, Wheaton College 48 

- Records: MIT (17-7, 11-4 NEWMAC), Wheaton College (9-15, 4-11 NEWMAC)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)

- The Lead: The MIT women's basketball team closed its regular season home schedule with an 81-48 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win over Wheaton College on Wednesday evening inside Rockwell Cage.

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

- MIT went on a 10-2 run early in the opening quarter that began with a pair of free throws from sophomore Kylie Gallagher (Upton, Mass.) and was capped by a layup via classmate Jocelyn Luizzi (Colchester, Conn.) as the Engineers built their lead to 14-4 with 4:11 to play in the quarter. Both teams traded buckets late in the stanza as the score stood at 22-10 after ten minutes of action. 

- MIT saw a balanced scoring effort in the second quarter as the Engineers maintained their double-digit advantage heading into the break at 34-24. The second quarter saw both Antonakakis and senior Taylor V'Dovec (Blaine, Wash.) score three points apiece, while first-years Annika Sougstad (Mahtomedi, Minn.) and Anna Broski (Stillman Valley, Ill.) as well as Gallagher all registered a pair of points. 

- Leading 36-28 early in the third, the Engineers went on a 17-2 run over a five-minute span to put the game away and make their lead 23 points at 53-30. The spurt featured eight points from Gallagher, five points from Holinski and four points via V'Dovec. MIT led by 24 after a trey by Holinski at the end of three quarters, 56-32.

- MIT put out its highest point total in the fourth quarter as the Engineers outscored Wheaton 25-16 over the final ten minutes to claim the in by an 81-48 final score. With 2:30 to play in the game, sophomore Margaret Sullivan (Wilmington, Del.) scored her first collegiate points on a layup.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- With the win tonight, the Engineers have secured a home playoff game in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 NEWMAC Tournament which will begin next Tuesday. Seeding for the entire tournament will be released following the final regular season game on Saturday.

- 11 different student-athletes scored for the Engineers highlighted by double digit efforts by Gallagher (18 points), Sougstad (12 points), Antonakakis (12 points), V'Dovec (11 points) and Holinski (10 points). Defensively, Sougstad added a career-high eight rebounds and two steals to her stat line.

- MIT shot 38.8-percent from the floor, 40.0-percent from behind the arc and 73.1-percent from the charity stripe. The Engineers also held statistical advantages in rebounds (49-40), assists (19-7), steals (18-7) and blocks (6-1).

- The Engineers have now won six straight matchups against the Lyons dating back to the 2015-16 season including two this year to secure the season series.

- MIT came into tonight's game ranked tenth in the second NCAA New England regional rankings.

UP NEXT:

- MIT closes the regular season on Saturday, February 16 when the Engineers travel to Coast Guard. Tip-off is slated for 1:00 pm in New London, Connecticut. 

STAY CONNECTED:

- For the latest on MIT Athletics, follow the Engineers via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.