Babson Park, MA --- Ava Giansiracusa (Wethersfield, CT) poured in a season-best 21 points and the WPI defense limited Maine Maritime to just a single basket over the final 7:49 as the Engineers knocked off the Mariners 59-53 in the opening game of the final day of the Judy Pearson '85 Memorial Women's Basketball Tournament inside Babson's Staake Gymnasium.
 
While the tournament utilized a classic format with predetermined matches on both days, Friday's contest featured both of winners from Thursday's games, so WPI was the only one of the four teams to complete the tournament 2-0.  The Engineers, who have now won three consecutive games for the second time this season, improve to 7-4 overall while the Mariners, who have appeared in the last two NCAA Tournaments, saw their four-game winning streak snapped and dip to 7-3 on the season.
 
Maine Maritime used the 3-pointer to take a 15-11 lead in the opening quarter, draining three from downtown, including a pair from Erianna Moore (Fitchburg, MA), and a conventional 3-point play via Makenzie Monzon (Orlando, FL), but the Engineers clawed back into the contest after being down 11-2 three minutes into the frame by ending the opening 10 minute by scoring 9 of the 13 points over the last 3:33.
 
After not connecting on a 3-pointer in the first quarter, the Crimson and Gray nailed 3-of-5 attempts from behind the arc in the second and drained all six of their tries from the charity stripe on their way to outscoring the Mariners 23-13 in the quarter.   Giansiracusa paced WPI with 10 points to help the Engineers take a 34-28 edge at the half while Moore led Maine Maritime with 11 points over the opening 20 minutes.
 
MMA held the Engineers scoreless for opening 3:39 of the third quarter and used a Moore trifecta to cap a 7-0 run to grab a 35-34 advantage.  WPI closed out the third by limiting the Mariners to just one basket over the final 4:55 and received scoring from four different players while shooting 6-of-8 from the field to highlight a 16-6 spurt that transformed a 37-36 deficit into a 52-43 advantage headed to the fourth.
 
It was the WPI that went cold to start the final 10 minutes as the Engineers misfired on their first three shots and committed four turnovers as the Mariners rattled off the first seven points of the quarter to claw back to two points at 52-50 about midway through.  A Giansiracusa layup quelled the uprising and then a traditional 3-point play with 2:30 remaining pushed the bulge back to six at 59-53.  Neither team would score the rest of the way as the WPI defense held the Mariners to just 1-of-7 shooting over the final 7:49.
 
Giansiracusa connected on 7-of-10 field goals, including a pair of 3-poitners, and all five her free throw tries on her way to 21 points, one shy of her career-high of 22 set last year in a tight loss at eventual NCAA Tournament finalist Smith.  The sophomore also equaled her career-best with eight boards.  Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) joined Giansiracusa in double figure scoring with 11 points and added three blocks while logging 40 minutes for the second time this season and after playing 39 minutes on Thursday.  Emmy Allyn (Rutland, MA) buried all four of here bids from the charity stripe on her way to nine points.
 
Paige Davenport (Albany, NY) and Allison Fullem (Underhill, VT) provided key sparks off the bench as the WPI reserves outscored its MMA counterparts 34-4.  Davenport registered eight points and Fullem notched five points and six boards.  The Engineers were 16-of-17 on the day from the free throw line and held a 16-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Moore shared game-high scoring honors with 21 points for Maine Maritime with a trio of 3-pointers while Sydney Briscoe (Englewood, NJ) netted 15 points and hauled in 10 boards on her way to 10th career double-double.  Monzon finished with a game-best four assists.
 
After a weekend without contests, WPI closes out a rugged run of five games in nine days on Monday, venturing to Williams to face the Ephs at 5:30pm.   Maine Maritime returns to NAC play the same day, hosting Vermont State Johnson at 4pm.