Wheaton will travel to number-three seed Springfield College on Tuesday, February 22 for a first round game at 7:30 p.m. The Lyons collected their 11th victory of the season for the first time since the 1999-2000 campaign, improving to 11-14 overall and 6-7 in the NEWMAC. MIT will miss the tournament with an overall record of 4-19 and conference winless mark of 0-13.
Wheaton sophomore Samara Audet (Derry, NH/Trinity) hit a free throw one minute into today's contest and later dished to freshman Courtney Riley (Quincy, MA/Fontbonne Academy) for the game's first basket. On the ensuing possession, Engineer senior Jasmin Moghbeli (Baldwin, NY/Baldwin) put MIT on the board with a pair of free throws, but Lyon senior Vanessa Savas (Belmont, MA/Belmont) posted back-to-back baskets for a 7-2 lead with 12:21 remaining.
MIT didn't score its first basket until the 12:02 mark, when sophomore Christa Margossian (Revere, MA/Revere) knocked down a jumper. A free throw by Wheaton first-year Lisa Gibson (Norridgewock, ME/Skowhegan Area) was countered with a bucket from sophomore Cherelle Walls (Memphis, TN/East) to leave the Lyons in front 8-6 with 11:23 to play. Wheaton answered by outscoring the hosts, 21-7 the rest of the stanza to secure a 29-13 cushion at the half.
In the second half, Audet opened the scoring with a three-pointer from Riley and senior Mary Flaherty (Mattapoisett, MA/Old Rochester) followed with a jumper to extend the visitor lead to 34-13. MIT never threatened, cutting its deficit to 19 points on several occasions, as the Lyons thwarted any Engineer comeback attempt.
Savas and Riley led four Wheaton double-figure scorers with 12 points apiece. Savas was a perfect 6-of-6 from the floor with a game-best 11 rebounds to complete her double-double, while Riley pulled down seven boards with three assists and two blocks. Senior Kate Williams (Portland, OR/Catlin Gabel) accounted for 11 points (4-8 FG) and Audet added 10 points and seven rebounds.
For MIT, junior Karen Kinnaman (Woodstock, NY/Onteora) posted nine points with a team-high tying seven rebounds off the bench, while Moghbeli totaled eight points and seven rebounds.
Newspaper Box Score Wheaton College vs MIT 2/19/05 3:00 p.m. at Rockwell Cage, Cambridge, Mass. At Rockwell Cage, Cambridge, Mass. WHEATON COLLEGE 62, MIT 32 WHEATON COLLEGE (11-14, 6-7) Courtney Riley 5-8 1-3 12; Vanessa Savas 6-6 0-0 12; Kate Williams 4-8 2-2 11; Samara Audet 3-10 3-4 10; Kim McCormack 3-5 1-2 7; Lisa Gibson 2-5 1-2 6; Jessica Pine 1-6 0-0 2; Mary Flaherty 1-8 0-0 2; Becky Aitchison 0-2 0-0 0; Casey Sorbara 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 8-13 62. MIT (4-19, 0-13) Karen Kinnaman 3-10 2-4 9; Jasmin Moghbeli 3-5 2-3 8; Sharon Prange 3-5 0-1 6; Cherelle Walls 2-4 1-2 5; Christa Margossian 1-8 2-4 4; Stephanie Chiang 0-0 0-0 0; Kimberly Eri Soo Hoo 0-3 0-0 0; Jingwen Ouyang 0-0 0-0 0; Jordan Wirfs-Brock 0-1 0-2 0; Joanna Natsios 0-2 0-0 0; Mikala Streeter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-38 7-16 32. Wheaton College............... 29 33 - 62 MIT........................... 13 19 - 32 3-point goals-Wheaton College 4-15 (Kate Williams 1-2; Samara Audet 1-2; Courtney Riley 1-1; Lisa Gibson 1-1; Mary Flaherty 0-6; Jessica Pine 0-2; Kim McCormack 0-1), MIT 1-2 (Karen Kinnaman 1-1; Kimberly Eri Soo Hoo 0-1). Fouled out--Wheaton College-None, MIT-None. Rebounds-Wheaton College 39 (Vanessa Savas 11), MIT 29 (Karen Kinnaman 7; Jasmin Moghbeli 7). Assists-Wheaton College 17 (Mary Flaherty 3; Courtney Riley 3; Casey Sorbara 3), MIT 7 (Joanna Natsios 2). Total fouls-Wheaton College 16, MIT 12. A-210