Newport, RI --- Morgan Shuey (Corning, IA) and Ashley Rourke (Wayne, NJ) each tallied 20 points and Sofia Neary (Wayne, NJ) registered a double-double to guide host NEWMAC newcomer Salve Regina to a 75-58 victory against WPI in the first-ever conference women's basketball matchup between the two schools on Wednesday evening.  

Both teams now find themselves with identical 8-8 records on the season with Salve Regina remaining unbeaten in conference play at 2-0 while WPI dips to 0-2 in NEWMAC action. 

Shuey sank a three to open the game for the Seahawks, before Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT)  drove to the lane for a layup assisted by Emmy Allyn (Rutland, MA) to get the Engineers on the board. Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) was the story the rest of the quarter for WPI, shooting a perfect 4-of-4 from the field as the Engineers shot 60% (9-for-15) in the opening frame to take a 20-18 lead into the second quarter.  

Salve Regina tied the game at 28 apiece with just under five minutes remaining in the second quarter on an Rourke 3-pointer to put her in double-digits for the game. Sofia Neary broke into double-digit scoring with a 3-pointer off a Rourke assist to put the Seahawks up 35-30. Salve Regina went into the half holding a six-point lead, 39-33. Rourke and Sofia Neary led the first-half scoring for the Seahawks with 14 and 10 points respectively.  

Sofia Neary started the second half with an and-one at the rim to put the Seahawks up nine but six straight points by Kelly closed the gap to three.  Kelly posted 10 points in the third quarter but the two teams played the 10 minute frame to a 17-17 draw as Salve Regina took a 56-50 lead into the final quarter. 

After the Seahawks opened the fourth quarter with a Shuey layup, Shannon Reno (Millbury, MA) nailed a 3-pointer for the Engineers to trim the deficit to five but Salve Regina ripped off 15 of the game's next 17 points to put the game out of reach.  Shuey and Rourke led the charge for the Seahawks, with Shuey scoring nine during the run and Rourke adding four. 

Shuey finished 7-of-11 from the field while Rourke was 7-of-14 and the pair was a combined 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. Sofia Neary's double-double featured 13 points and 11 rebounds, including nine off the defensive glass, while older sister Briana Neary (Wayne, NJ) tossed in 10 points.  Shuey led all players with six assists, Rourke added seven boards and Sofia Neary swatted three blocks. 

Kelly canned 5-of-10 of her shots and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line on her way to a team-best 16 points despite foul trouble.  Niles finished with 11 points and six rebounds and Ava Giansiracusa (Wethersfield, CT) came off the bench to tally 10 points, including connecting on both of her attempts from downtown, and hauled in five rebounds.  Reno had team-high rebounding honors with seven, one off her career-best of eight against RIT last month. 

WPI returns home at Harrington Auditorium for its first NEWMAC home contest of 2024 on Saturday versus MIT at 3pm.  Salve Regina begins a two-game road trip on Saturday, venturing to Babson for a 1pm affair.  

Majority of Recap Written by WPI Sports Information Student Assistant Owen Radcliffe '25