NORTON, Mass. – The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team was defeated by visiting Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 73-47, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference action at Emerson Gymnasium on the campus of Wheaton in Norton, Mass. 

The Lyons fall to 11-8 overall and 1-3 in NEWMAC play, while the Engineers have won four of their last five and improve to 13-4 and 3-1.

WPI shot 56.6% (30-53) from the floor, while holding Wheaton to just 32.8% (19-58). The Engineers owned a 36-29 rebounding margin and dominated the inside, outscoring their hosts, 48-12, in the paint. The visitors proved to be very opportunistic with a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers.

First year guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) scored a career-high 14 points on 5-10 from the field, including 2-4 from three-point range to lead the Lyons in addition to an assist. Sophomore guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) contributed with 12 points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist and first year guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) came off the bench to score 12 points, pull down eight rebounds and hand out an assist.

Graduate student center Lisa Cristiano (Valhalla, N.Y.) did not miss a shot and scored a game-high 19 points to lead WPI. She was a perfect 9-9 from the floor and was a made field goal short of becoming the sixth player in NCAA Division III this season to record a perfect field goal mark on double-digit attempts. She also drained her only free throw attempt and added seven rebounds and a blocked shot in 24 minutes of action. The Engineers had 10 players crack the scoring column, including nine with five or more points during the game. Graduate student guard Alex Scariati (Scotch Plains, N.J.) led all playmakers with eight assists and added eight points, a rebound and a steal, while graduate student guard Victoria Mirecki (Washingtonville, N.Y.) was 4-7 from the floor to net eight points and added three boards, two steals and an assist.

After missing a shot on the initial possession of the game, WPI connected on its next five attempts with a trio of buckets from graduate student gard Mckenna Finken (Simsbury, Conn.) sandwiched around a Cristiano layup and a three-pointer from graduate student guard Melanie Presseau (Manchester, N.H.) to put the Engineers ahead double-digits (11-0) just 2:48 into the game.  

First year forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) later drilled a three-pointer to pull Wheaton to within 15-7 with 4:01 to go in the opening quarter. WPI closed out the quarter with a 10-2 run, including four points from Cristiano, to take a 25-9 lead after one quarter of play.  

Walters hit a jumper outside the paint to cut the deficit to 29-11 with 7:32 showing in the second quarter for the Lyons, before the Engineers went on a 12-2 run to increase their lead to 41-13 with 2:36 remaining in the first half. 

Wheaton ripped off nine straight points in a span of 91 seconds, including a pair of trifectas from Walters, to pull to within 41-22 with 1:05 left in the quarter. WPI took a 44-24 margin into the intermission.

Fernandes made it 46-28 for the Lyons with a jumper from outside the paint at the 7:39 mark of the third quarter. The Engineers held Wheaton to just two points for the rest of the quarter, while scoring 13 points, including seven from Cristiano, to take a 59-30 lead into the final quarter of play. 

WPI maintained a 69-40 cushion with 3:42 showing on the fourth quarter clock, before Walters sank a jumper in the paint and Duwe drained a three-ball at 1:31 to cut the margin to 69-45 for the Lyons with 91 ticks left in the game. 

Both teams are back in action on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Wheaton concludes a two-game homestand against Worcester teams, entertaining Clark University (Mass.) at Emerson Gymnasium in conference action, while the Engineers wrap up a quick two-game road trip in Boston, Mass. at Emerson College in NEWMAC play.