WORCESTER, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team fell to host Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 60-30, this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Harrington Auditorium in Worcester, Mass.
The Lyons finish their season at 10-15 overall and 2-9 in NEWMAC play, while the Engineers close out the regular season at 13-12 and 5-6. WPI clinched the number six seed in the upcoming NEWMAC Championship Tournament and will travel to Cambridge, Mass. to take on third-seeded Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the opening round of the tournament at 7:00 p.m.
Sophomore guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) was the top scorer for the Lyons with six points and added three rebounds and a steal, while classmate Nasha Arnold (North Reading, Mass.) chipped in with five points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench. Sophomore forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) led the efforts on the defensive glass with seven boards.
Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) and Emmy Allyn (Rutland, MA) highlighted the Crimson and Gray efforts. Niles delivered her third double-double of the season and her career, amassing 15 points and gobbling up a game-best 12 boards, while Allyn paced all players with 18 points, including a trio of 3-pointers. Reno corralled a career-high nine rebounds, all off the defensive glass and doled out a game-best five assists.
WPI never trailed in the game and did not yield a field goal for the first 8:23 of the contest on its way to an 11-3 advantage. The Lyons connected on 2-of-11 field goal tries in the first quarter and found themselves trailing, 14-7, after the opening 10 minutes and 30-18 at the half. The third quarter was tightly-contested with WPI outscoring the guests, 11-10, but the hosts found another gear in the fourth, accounting for 18 of the frame's 20 points with Allyn (8) and Niles (6) teaming up for 14.
On the day, the Engineers parlayed 22 Wheaton turnovers into 22 points and enjoyed a 30-16 edge in scoring in the paint and a 19-5 advantage in second choice points.
