WORCESTER -- Alex Scariati (Scotch Plains, NJ) recorded 13 of her team-high 16 points after intermission and added six assists and five rebounds as the WPI women's basketball team held off a second half Springfield rally as host the Engineers downed the Pride 68-63 in a matchup of one-loss NEWMAC teams on Saturday afternoon in Worcester.
WPI has now won five straight contests and sits at 16-4 overall and 6-1 in NEWMAC play. The Crimson and Gray trails conference unbeaten Smith (6-0) by a half game and is now one of three teams, along with Babson (5-1) and MIT (5-1) with one loss in NEWMAC action. Springfield is 14-7 on the season and 4-2 against league foes.
The Pride held their second and final lead of the day at 8-7 midway through the opening quarter but WPI would account for 10 of the stanza's final 17 points and use a 10-0 spurt midway through the second quarter to lead by as many as 16 and eventually 15 (33-18) at the break.
Springfield clawed its way back in the game in the third quarter, rattling off 20 of the frame's opening 27 points to get within two points at 40-38 late in the period. That would be as close as the guests would get for awhile as the Engineers answered every Pride push until a Jaelen Daubon (Hyde Park, NY) trifecta with 2:19 to go in the game made it a 3-point game at 60-57. WPI than put the game away with a Scariati 3-pointer, a stop on the defensive end, and then a Lisa Cristiano (Valhalla, NY) layup to secure the victory.
Scariati accounted for a trio of 3-pointers, canned all three of her free throw attempts and swiped a steal while playing 37 minutes, including all 20 in the second half. McKenna Finken (Simsbury, CT) joined her in double figures scoring by amassing nine of her 10 points in the first half. Melanie Presseau (Manchester, NH) and Victoria Mirecki (Washingtonville, NY) both totaled nine points, Cristiano finished with eight and Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) and Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) each ended with seven.
The hosts help a 40-29 advantage on the glass, with Cristiano and Kelly each corralling eight rebounds and Mirecki tallying six boards.
Daubon drained four 3-pointers for Springfield on her way to sharing game-high scoring honors with 16 points. Rachel Vinton (Rutland, MA) and Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, MA) netted 14 and 13 points respectively while Vinton stuffed the stat sheets with five rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals and Stefany Padula (Franklin, MA) totaled five boards.
Both teams return to the court with contests on Wednesday at 7pm. WPI embarks upon a two-game road trip, venturing to MIT while Springfield opens a two-game homestand by entertaining No. 5 Smith.