Weston, MA --- Senior point guard Alex Scariati (Scotch Plains, NJ) handed out a career-best 14 assists and flirted with a triple-double to propel the WPI to a 60-49 road triumph at Regis in a non-conference women's basketball contest played on Monday evening. 

The Engineers are now 6-2 overall while the hosts slip to 1-5 on the season.

Scariati smashed her old career-best of nine assists set last November in a home victory over Fitchburg State.  The 14 helpers equal the most in a game in all of Division III this season, joining Alexis Durham of Notre Dame (MD), Daniella Aronsky of Emory (GA) and Anna Fanelli of Colorado College to accomplish the feat so far in 2022-23.  Only Nika Muhl of Division I UConn has more assists (15) in a game in all levels of NCAA women's basketball this season. Scariati scored nine points and added nine boards, all on the defensive end in 38 minutes of work in the second night of back-to-back games. 

She arguably saved her best for the end of the game with the Engineers clinging to a six-point lead at 55-49 with just over a minute remaining, Scariati hauled in a defensive rebound and immediately pushed the ball in transition and hit a streaking Lisa Cristiano (Valhalla, NY) in stride for a layup five seconds later.  After Cristiano drew a charge on the other end, WPI milked the shot clock on its ensuing possession and Scariati provided the dagger to beat the shot clock buzzer with her third 3-pointer of the game with just 14 seconds remaining to account for the final points of the night.

Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) and Cristiano combined for 32 of WPI's 60 points with 16 apiece on a combined 12-of-20 shooting from the floor with Scariati assisting on 10 of the baskets.  Kelly contributed seven rebounds and Cristiano chipped in with six boards as the Crimson and Gray held a 38-30 edge on the glass and a 34-16 advantage in points in the paint. 

Regis led 21-19 midway through the second quarter before the Engineers closed the half on a 15-2 spurt to take a 34-24 halftime lead into the locker room at the break.  Cristiano netted six points during the run while Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) chipped in with four points in the uprising.  The visitors shot well from the field in the first half, connecting on 53.8% (14-of-26) from the floor and held the Pride to just 28.1% (9-of-21) shooting, but the hosts did drain 3-of-7 (42.9%) from behind the 3-point arc. 

The hosts trailed by as many as 12 in the third quarter but used a 12-2 run of their own to get back to within 2 at 45-43 early in the fourth but WPI's Melanie Presseau (Manchester, NH) canned a big 3-pointer with 8:41 remaining and the Pride would not get any closer the rest of the way. 

Pam Gonzalez (Revere, MA) (11), Jordyn Striggles (Bridgewater, MA) (10) and Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, CT) (10) all reached double digits in scoring for Regis and Valerie Whalen (Stoughton, MA) paced all players with 11 rebounds. 

After back-to-back games the last two days, the Engineers are off until Saturday, hosting UMass Boston at 2pm in Harrington Auditorium in their final game before Christmas.  Regis returns to GNAC action on Wednesday, venturing to Johnson & Wales for a 5:30pm tipoff.