WORCESTER -- Led by a 16-point effort from tournament MVP Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT), the WPI women's basketball team earned its eighth-straight Worcester City Tournament title with a 72-48 upending of Clark on Saturday night.
Kelly finished with 16 points and added five rebounds, three assists, a pair of blocks and a steal on the evening. She was joined on the All-Tournament team by Alex Scariati (Scotch Plains, NJ) who finished tonight's game with three points, six assists, four rebounds and a trio of steals.
Joining Kelly in the double-digit scoring were Lisa Cristiano (Valhalla, NY) and Melanie Presseau (Manchester, NH) who netted 13 and 10 points respectively. Cristiano had a near double-double tacking on nine rebounds and a trio of assists while Presseau finished with four rebounds, an assist, a steal and a block.
Jacqueline Faulise (North Kingstown, RI) earned a spot on the All-Tournament team for Clark (1-1) finishing with nine points, and five rebounds while her teammate Mariah Harris (Stoughton, MA) ended the night with a team-high 15 points and Jalin Waters (Waterbury, CT) added nine points and a pair of boards.
A dominating first quarter set the tone for the rest of the game. After a block by Kelly on the opening attempt from Clark, Kelly also chipped in the first two points of the evening on a pair of free throws to put WPI on the board first in the wire-to-wire win.
She followed her free throws by adding a trey, followed by a Cristiano layup and then a pair of free throws to make in a 9-0 game with 7:04 remaining in the first quarter.
Clark got on the board at the 6:30 mark on an Alaina Schatzabel (Kennebunk, ME) layup before a 9-1 run by the Engineers ended the first quarter with WPI in the lead 18-7. The Engineers kept the scoring going in the second quarter as the run extended to 16-3 through the first five minutes of the second quarter to build a 25-7 lead.
Waters, Harris and Faulise rallied off six-straight points to get the Cougars within 12 but a Presseau trey with 23 seconds left in the half gave the Engineers a 30-15 halftime lead.
McKenna Finken (Simsbury, CT) and Kelly made it a 19-point game out of the gate in the second half though the Cougars were able to stay within two points of WPI in the third quarter, heading into the final ten minutes with a 50-33 lead.
Shannon Reno (MIllbury, MA) started the fourth quarter off with a bang draining a three followed by back-to-back shots from Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) as the Engineers continuously built their lead en route to the victory.
WPI dominated on the offensive front, finishing the night with a 47.2 shooting percentage to Clark's 32.2 percent effort. The Engineers also dominated on the glass out rebounding Clark 49-26, including 38 defensive boards.
The Engineers will keep the momentum rolling at Western New England on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 8 pm while Clark will look to bounce back on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7 pm when they play host to Fitchburg State in the team's home opener.
All-Tournament Team
WPI – Alice Kelly, MVP
WPI – Alex Scariati
Clark – Jacqueline Faulise
Worcester State – Katie Hurynowicz
Anna Maria – Gina Parmenter
Six different Lancers recorded double digits in scoring, leading Worcester State to a 97-49 victory over Anna Maria in the Worcester City Tournament consolation contest.
Sarah Blomgren (Lunenburg, MA) tallied a double-double for WSU with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while adding a game-best four steals. Katie Hurynowicz (Tyngsboro, MA) attained the game and team high of points with 18 and gained four rebounds and one block. Marinique Reddin (Tampa, FL) notched a double-double for Anna Maria, posting 12 points and 10 boards. Gina Parmenter (Oxford, MA) added 15 points to go along with four caroms.
Anna Maria shot 30.% on the night with not connecting on any shots from downtown. Worcester State hit 52.9% percent of their shots which includes 45.5% percent from behind the 3-point line.
For their performances, Hurynowicz and Parmenter were tabbed to the All-Tournament team.
Worcester State will be back in action at 7pm against New England College next Thursday on their home court, while Anna Maria ventures to Boston to take on Wentworth at 6pm on Thursday.
Worcester State/Anna Maria recap written by WPI Sports Information Student Assistant Maya Vartabedian '25