CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A strong first half helped propel the MIT women's basketball team to a 68-30 victory over Mount Holyoke College on Saturday afternoon in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. Freshman guard Cindy Si tallied 14 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals for the Engineers, while Xajaah Williams-Flores paced the Lyons with 10 points, 10 boards, and three steals. MHC falls to 2-20 overall and 0-14 in the NEWMAC, while MIT improves to 19-4 overall and 12-2 in conference play.
Mount Holyoke's Leah Hodges (New Haven, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) opened the scoring after 3:23 elapsed in the game, but MIT responded with a 14-1 run, which later turned into a 30-9 advantage at halftime.
The Engineers maintained their comfortable cushion throughout the third quarter as the lead grew to 52-19 courtesy of a layup by junior forward Cathryn Hart (Charlestown, Mass./Boston University Academy) at the buzzer.
The early stages of the fourth quarter saw both teams trade baskets in what proved to be a balanced scoring performance down the stretch.
Sophomore Taylor V'Dovec guard (Blaine, Wash./Blaine) posted 13 points and nine rebounds for MIT, while classmate Maude Gull (Zurich, Switzerland/Notre Dame (Calif.)) registered 14 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes of action. Senior Liana Ilutzi (East Hanover, N.J./Hanover Park) tallied seven boards, six assists, and two steals to round out the squad.
Hodges totaled seven points, seven rebounds, and three assists, while Genesis DiCarlo (Sullivan, Maine/Sumner Memorial) hauled in seven rebounds for Mount Holyoke.
The Engineers shot 39.5 percent (30-76) as the Lyons were 20.8 percent (11-53) from the floor. The hosts also finished with advantages in rebounds (55-37), points in the paint (40-14), points off turnovers (25-4), second-chance scoring (12-4), and bench scoring (36-6).
Both squads are back in action on Wednesday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 p.m. against NEWMAC rivals. MIT will travel to Wellesley College while Mount Holyoke will host Smith College.