The first half was closely played, with a total of six ties and seven lead changes. Tech’s largest lead came at the 16:00 mark, when Lauren Tsai drained a three-pointer for a 7-3 advantage. Baskets by Babson’s Colleen Burke and April Suprey gave the game its first tie at 14:12. Both squads traded baskets until the Beavers built up their own four-point lead (17-13) with 11:25 remaining. MIT went on a 7-2 run during the next two minutes, taking a 20-19 advantage. Babson responded by scoring five unanswered points, regaining the lead with 5:37 left to play. The Engineers held the advantage two more times before a free throw and a jumper by the Beavers’ Erin Conroy gave her squad a 32-31 lead at halftime.
Babson opened the second stanza with a 9-0 run during the first five minutes and never looked back. The Beavers went on to outscore Tech, 33-12, in the second half.
Lauren Tsai and Karen Kinnaman each finished with eight points for MIT. Kinnaman collected a team-high seven rebounds while Rayna Zacks grabbed six caroms.
For Babson, April Suprey and Erin Conroy both totaled 13 points. Conroy tallied a game-high nine rebounds while Colleen Burke and Sheila Nanjego had eight apiece. Kate McMackin dished out a game-high five assists while Burke added four.
MIT’s final home game of the season will be on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 7:00 p.m. when it hosts Tufts University.