CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball team fell to host Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 67-56, this evening in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Rockwell Cage in Cambridge, Mass.
The Lyons slip to 7-17 overall and 3-7 in league play, while the Engineers improve to 11-13 and 7-3.
Wheaton shot just 38.6% (22-57) from the floor, including 5-19 (26.3%) from three-point range. MIT struggled as well, hitting 35.6% (21-59) of its tries, while knocking down just 15.4% (2-13) of its long-range shots. The Engineers did make hay at the line though, converting 23 of 34 attempts, compared to 7-12 for their guests. MIT also owned a 44-38 rebounding margin and pulled down 15 offensive caroms to translate to a 16-5 advantage in second chance points. The Engineers took advantage of 24 Lyon turnovers as well and out-scored Wheaton, 27-11 in points off miscues.
Junior guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) posted her fifth career double-double with season-highs of 14 points and 11 rebounds to go with a steal, a block and a career-high six assists for the Lyons. Sophomore guard Mary McClintock (Essex Junction, Vt.) scored 12 points, grabbed three boards, handed out a pair of assists and came up with a steal, while classmate Cheyenne Colbert (Brookline, N.H.) contributed with 11 points, including a trio of trifectas, seven rebounds and an assist.
Junior forward Alice Hall (Ambler, Pa.) led all scorers with 16 points on 5-9 from the floor for MIT and added nine rebounds, four steals and an assist. Junior forward Brianna Lebrun (Hartford, Conn.) chipped in with 15 points, five boards and a pair of assists and junior guard Kaya Weiser (Villanova, Pa.) scored 10 points, pulled down five rebounds, came up with three steals and dished for two assists.
Walters pulled Wheaton within 42-41 with a layup on a putback with 5:05 to go in the third quarter, but the Engineers closed out the period with nine of the final 10 points to take a 51-42 advantage into the fourth quarter.
Walters converted a layup to cut the margin to 54-48 with 5:43 showing on the fourth quarter clock and later sank a pair of free throws to keep the difference at six (62-56) for the Lyons with 90 seconds left in the game. The freebies were the last points Wheaton scored, while MIT tallied the final five points for the double-digit win.
The Lyons led for most of a first quarter that saw four lead changes. McClintock made a layup with 7:18 remaining in the quarter to give the visitors a 6-4 lead. Hall knocked down a pull-up jumper to cap five straight points for the Engineers to give them a 9-6 margin, before Wheaton ripped off seven straight points with four from McClintock and a triple from Colbert, to take a 13-9 lead with 2:53 showing on the first quarter clock. MIT evened the quarter at 13 after a jumper from senior guard Elise Harvey (Wayland, Mass.) and a layup from Lebrun, but the Lyons received a three-ball from senior guard Greta Minos (Boston, Mass.) to help give them a 16-14 lead after one quarter of play.
The Engineers scored the first nine points of the quarter, going 4-5 from the floor, to open a 23-16 lead with 7:20 to go in the period. Wheaton cut the margin to two with the next five points, capped by a Colbert trey, to make it 23-21 with 6:15 left in the quarter. Junior guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) kept the difference at two with a pull-up jumper for the Lyons, before MIT reeled off nine straight points, including five from Hall, to take a 34-23 advantage with 58 ticks left in the opening half. Minos hit another late quarter triple to cut the deficit to 34-26 for the Lyons at the half.
Lebrun maintained the home team's lead with a jumper to make it 38-30 at the 8:13 mark of the third quarter. Wheaton closed to within one after putting together an 11-4 run, capped by the Walter's putback.
Wheaton returns to the hardwood on Saturday, February 22 when it hosts NEWMAC foe Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Senior Day at 1:00 p.m. in Emerson Gymnasium, while the Engineers host league rival Salve Regina University at 2:00 p.m. on the same day.
