SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Led by points from 10 different players, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) basketball team came away with a 59-29 victory over Mount Holyoke College on Wednesday in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. With the victory, the Engineers move to 17-1 and remain perfect in conference play at 9-0. The Lyons slip to 0-18 overall and 0-10 in the NEWMAC.
Sophomore forward Maura Buckley (Melrose, Mass./Arlington Catholic) paced the offensive effort for WPI, notching 12 points and seven rebounds to go along with a game-high four assists and a block. Junior guard Priscilla Dunphy (Barrington, R.I./LaSalle Academy) and first year forward Jackie Panneton (Salem, Mass./Salem) each had seven points, including a game-best eight boards for Dunphy, while senior guard Yasmeen Luna (North Providence, R.I./St. Mary Academy-Bay View) had a game-high four steals.
For the Lyons, senior guard Genelle Green (Windsor, Conn./Miss Porter's School) recorded a game-best 16 points, adding three boards, an assists and a steal. First year guard Zahkeyah Allen (Philadelphia, Pa./Freire Charter School) notched five points, while classmate and forward Leah Hodges (New Haven, Conn./Kolbe Cathedral) had four points, six boards and an assist.
WPI opened up a six-point lead (8-2) early in the first quarter, powered by six shots from Buckley, but the Lyons battled back as a trey from outside by Allen closed the gap to four (11-7) with 3:55 to play. The Engineers countered, but a three from Green made it a 13-10 contest for the remainder of the frame.
In the second quarter, the Engineers came out firing, going up by 13 (25-12) on a layup by sophomore guard Brittney Lambert (Hudson, N.H./Alvirne) at the 4:01 mark. Another three from Green helped close the gap, but WPI headed into the locker room at half up 29-15 following a three from Lambert and an ensuing free throw.
The Engineers continued to press to open the third quarter, posting a 9-0 run to go up 38-17 with 5:26 remaining in the stanza. Dunphy keyed the offensive effort during the span with three points. Following another WPI run, the Lyons were able to grab a couple back as Allen stepped up to the line with no time left, sinking two of three free throws to make it a 51-22 game.
WPI took its largest lead of the game with 2:22 to go in the fourth quarter as a layup from first year forward Marlies de Jong (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison) put the visitors up 57-23. MHC saw a key effort from Green down the stretch as she posted all six points in the quarter.
Mount Holyoke is now idle until February 3 when it hosts Coast Guard at 7pm. WPI is right back in action on Saturday, hosting MIT at 5pm.
