SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- The WPI women's basketball team scored the first 14 points and took a 22-2 lead after one quarter en route to an 84-31 NEWMAC victory at Mount Holyoke College on Wednesday night in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium.
The Engineers (9-9, 1-3 NEWMAC) evened their record and earned their first conference win, snapping a three-game skid in the process.
Fourteen players scored for WPI, led by Allison Fullem's 14 points off the bench. Ava Giansiracusa and Allison McMorrow scored 12 apiece and Hailey Zembrzuski chipped in 10 points.
WPI shot 51.4 percent from the field for the game, committed just six turnovers and outrebounded Mount Holyoke 44-21, including 18 offensive boards.
The host Lyons (2-16, 0-4 NEWMAC) struggled to score in the first half before a pair of baskets by first-year Emma Goff (Cohasset, Mass.) and senior Nicole Lutalo (Kampala, Uganda) doubled their total to eight points on 19.0% shooting before intermission. Mount Holyoke continued to fare better in the second half, shooting 37.5% from the field while scoring 11 points in the third quarter and 12 in the fourth.
Sophomore Libby Harris (Foxborough, Mass.) and Goff scored eight points apiece to lead the Lyons. Goff added a game-high nine rebounds and three steals.
Mount Holyoke committed 18 turnovers, tying for the Lyons' second-lowest total this season.
WPI won the opening tip and Shannon Reno passed ahead to Giansiracusa for a 3-pointer just two seconds into the game. Leading 5-0, McMorrow made back-to-back hoops before Niles drained a jumper and a three as the Engineers opened up a 14-0 lead with 4:43 left in the first quarter.
After Mount Holyoke junior Marley Berano (Lady Lake, Fla.) hit a jumper to put the Lyons on the scoreboard, Siracusa answered with back-to-back hoops. Siracusa scored a second-chance layup for WPI before the quarter came to a close with the visitors owning a commanding 22-2 lead. Giansiracusa scored nine points in the period for WPI, with McMorros and Niles adding six and five points apiece.
WPI continued to expand its lead in the second quarter, as a layup by Fullem made it 33-2. Mount Holyoke first-year Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.) made a jumper in the lane to interrupt the Engineers' run, but Giansiracusa and Femke Jansen answered with consecutive 3-pointers to grow their advantage to 39-6 with 2:42 left in the half.
Harris scored five points in the third quarter, Goff added four and junior Katie Rha (Douglaston, N.Y.) dished out two assists as Mount Holyoke gained some footing on offense, even as WPI added seven points to its lead in the period.
Both sides had their highest offensive output in the fourth quarter. Zembrzuski scored all 10 of her points in the period, including a pair of threes. Harris and Berano both made 3-pointers in the period, while Goff, Lutalo and Jamieson Dean also scored buckets.
Both teams return to action Saturday, with WPI playing at Babson at 1pm and Mount Holyoke playing at MIT at 2pm.
