THE BASICS:

- Score: MIT 63, University of Southern Maine 53

- Records: MIT (8-2); Southern Maine (4-7)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)

- The Lead: An 18-5 run that spanned the second and third quarters helped the MIT women's basketball team pull away for a 63-53 non-conference victory over the University of Southern Maine on Saturday. Four players, two from both teams, produced a game-high 15 points. Junior Kamsi Nwogu (Algonquin, Ill.) powered the Engineers with 15 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Liz Cote generated 15 points, three rebounds, and a block for the Huskies.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- In a closely played first quarter, a layup and then two free throws by junior Elise Harvey (Wayland, Mass.) during the final 39 seconds gave MIT a 14-11 lead.

- Following a layup by Nwogu after 31 seconds elapsed in the second stanza, Southern Maine rattled off six straight points as a three-pointer by Tamarah Gould gave the visitors a 17-16 edge at the 5:51 mark. Sparked by Nwogu's layup on the ensuing possession, the Engineers put together a 9-2 run to enter halftime with a small advantage.

- MIT carried the momentum into the third quarter as a 9-3 burst, capped by another Nwogu layup, moved the score to 34-22 with 5:43 on the clock. Despite the deficit the Huskies continued to attack, as four free throws by Amy Fleming along with a trio of threes by Cote narrowed the gap to 41-35 at the 3:15 mark. This was as close as it would get as the Engineers countered with a 10-4 run down the stretch.

- MIT's cushion grew to 16 (58-42) almost three minutes into the fourth quarter. Southern Maine chipped away at the deficit as back-to-back layups by Emma Stred brought it within 61-53 with 32 seconds remaining. First year Mariam Abdelbarr (Durham, N.C.) capped the scoring with a steal and layup with six seconds left.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Junior Angie Choi (Cypress, Calif.) registered 15 points and five rebounds as sophomore Alice Hall (Ambler, Pa.) collected a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with eight points and a team-high three assists. Graduate student Christina Antonakakis (Holmdel, N.J.) contributed eight points as Harvey finished with seven points and two steals.

- Gould recorded 15 points while Fleming totaled 10 points, four assists, and three steals.

- MIT led the way in rebounds (43-25), points in the paint (36-22), points off turnovers (20-14), second-chance points (15-4), and bench scoring (17-11).

UP NEXT:

- Both teams return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 3. MIT will travel to No. 8/9 Smith College for a non-conference game at 7:00 p.m. Southern Maine, meanwhile, will visit Little East Conference foe UMass Boston for a 5:30 p.m. tip off.

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