South Hadley, Mass. - January 4, 2019 - Despite a double double for junior forward Annika Brooks (Portland, Maine) and a 14-point run in the fourth quarter, the Mount Holyoke College basketball team suffered a 64-45 loss to visiting Wentworth Institute of Technology at Howard Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Brooks led Mount Holyoke College with 23 points to go along with 15 rebounds, while first-year point guard Ellie Hayward (Westmoreland, N.H.) posted 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals in 29 minutes of play.  

Mount Holyoke College scored on its first possession of the game as Brooks converted a lay-up just 11 seconds into the contest to make it 2-0, Lyons. Brooks would follow up with another lay-up to extend Mount Holyoke College's lead to four, but the Leopards would respond with a 9-0 run to take a 9-4 lead with 3:37 to play in the first quarter. Brooks made her third basket of the game to pull the Lyons back to within three, before hitting another jumper with 1:15 on the clock, but Wentworth held an 18-8 lead after one.

First-year Olivia Aries (Brewster, N.Y.) drilled a three-pointer just 1:36 into the second quarter to give the Lyons double digits, before the Leopards scored 10-straight points to take a 28-11 lead over Mount Holyoke College with 4:59 until the halftime break. Hayward hit a free throw before hitting a jumper from the wing in the final minutes of the frame but the Leopards went into the break with a 30-14 advantage. 

First-year forward Kyra Sanborn-Burch (Tariffville, Conn.) came out with the first two baskets of the second half, before six-consecutive points from Brooks made it 37-24, Wentworth, with 4:28 to play in the third quarter. Following another lay-up from Brooks, Hayward hit a jumper to pull the Lyons to within 14, before the first-year followed up with another jumper to make it 42-30. 

The Leopards opened up a 54-30 lead with 7:38 remaining before Mount Holyoke College eventually pulled to within 10, piecing together a 14-point run that took 6:59 and was capped by a lay-up from Olive Oswald (Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.). From there, the Leopards were able to secure the 64-45 victory.

With the loss, the Lyons fall to 1-11 on the year while the Leopards improve to 6-5 overall. Mount Holyoke College was just 20-of-56 (35.7%) from the field in the setback, while Wentworth shot 26-for-90 (28.9%) en route to victory. The visitors also held a 65-51 advantage on the glass over 40 minutes of play.

Up next, Mount Holyoke College will travel to SUNY Cobleskill on Tuesday, January 7 for a 7 p.m. contest against the Fighting Tigers. 

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