Closing the season in strong form by winning three of their final four games, the Blue and White finish the year with an overall record of 9-16 and 4-9 mark in league play. Wheaton defeated MIT by the same score in their last meeting on January 27 in Cambridge. The Engineers end their season with a 3-20 record and 0-13 standing in the NEWMAC.
The Lyons exploded out of the gates and quickly jumped out to a 10-0 lead thanks to impressive three-point shooting from senior Amanda Dow Allen (Greenfield, MA/Stoneleigh-Burnham), who hit two treys during the run. The Engineers managed to drain their first basket over six minutes into the game and added another before Wheaton went on another run, this one to the tune of 11-0, which put the Lyons in command at 23-4 with 8:48 remaining.
Wheaton only scored seven more points in the half and the shooting of MIT began to heat up. After trailing by 19 points, the Engineers managed to get within eight points with 1:19 showing on the clock, bringing the score to 28-20 on a jumper by senior Maria Hidalgo (Auburn, WA/Auburn Riverside). Wheaton's Casey Sorbara (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) hit two shots from the charity stripe to extend the Lyon lead to 30-20 heading into the break.
The second stanza started with another six-minute scoring drought, this time by the hosts as the Engineers took advantage. Senior Lauren Tsai (Hanover, NH/Phillips Academy) sunk a three-point bucket to bring MIT to within five at 30-25 with 16:31 to go. Wheaton eventually brought its lead back out to double figures at 41-31 thanks to a Taryn Brassil (Holyoke, MA/Holyoke) lay-up midway through the stanza. The Engineers got as close as four points once, but the Lyons' defense held strong and junior Kate Williams (Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel) hit four straight freebies to seal the win.
Dow-Allen had the hot hand for Wheaton, going 5-of-6 from three-point land en route to scoring a game-high 20 points on the afternoon. Brassil also had a solid game, contributing 11 points with seven boards. Williams added 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals in the victory.
Junior Rayna Zacks (Winnetka, IL/New Trier) was one of only two Engineers in double-figure scoring with a team-best 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field. Zacks just missed a double-double with a game-high nine boards, while freshman Christa Margossian (Revere, MA/Revere) registered 13 points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Newspaper Box Score MIT vs Wheaton College 2/21/04 1:00 p.m. at Emerson Gymnasium, Norton, Mass. At Emerson Gymnasium, Norton, Mass. WHEATON COLLEGE 56, MIT 47 MIT (3-20) Rayna Zacks 6-9 2-5 14; Christa Margossian 5-12 3-4 13; Karen Kinnaman 4-10 0-5 8; Maria Hidalgo 3-14 0-0 6; Lauren Tsai 1-6 1-2 4; Andrea Dooley 1-4 0-0 2; Cherelle Walls 0-5 0-0 0; Samia Mahjub 0-3 0-0 0; Michal Ruchelsman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-63 6-16 47. WHEATON COLLEGE (9-16) Amanda Dow-Allen 7-14 1-2 20; Taryn Brassil 4-13 3-6 11; Kate Williams 2-9 6-7 10; Bethany Jones 2-4 1-1 5; Kim McCormack 2-9 0-0 4; Casey Sorbara 1-3 2-4 4; Jessica Pine 1-2 0-0 2; Michelle Portilla 0-0 0-0 0; Shea Clarke 0-0 0-0 0; Samara Audet 0-0 0-0 0; Mary Flaherty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-54 13-20 56. MIT........................... 20 27 - 47 Wheaton College............... 30 26 - 56 3-point goals-MIT 1-10 (Lauren Tsai 1-5; Karen Kinnaman 0-1; Maria Hidalgo 0-3; Andrea Dooley 0-1), Wheaton College 5-15 (Amanda Dow-Allen 5-6; Taryn Brassil 0-4; Kate Williams 0-3; Bethany Jones 0-1; Casey Sorbara 0-1). Fouled out--MIT-Andrea Dooley, Wheaton College-None. Rebounds-MIT 41 (Rayna Zacks 9), Wheaton College 44 (Bethany Jones 8; Kim McCormack 8; Kate Williams 8). Assists-MIT 10 (Andrea Dooley 4), Wheaton College 9 (Kate Williams 4). Total fouls-MIT 21, Wheaton College 19. A-185