Hickey becomes program's first junior to reach 1,000-point plateau, Lyons stay perfect in NEWMAC with 78-71 road win at MIT

January 30, 2008

CAMBRIDGE, MA- Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) made Wheaton College women's basketball program history Wednesday night at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), becoming the first junior to hit the 1,000-point milestone in leading the Lyons to a 78-71 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory at Rockwell Cage. Hickey poured in a career-best 30 points on 12-of-19 shooting, including draining a career-high four threes.

With the win, Wheaton remained tied atop the conference standings with the United States Coast Guard Academy at 6-0. Its 6-0 mark is the program's best league start since going 7-0 during the 1994-95 season. The Lyons also raised their overall record to 13-5. The Engineers fell to 8-9 and 1-5.

Hickey, who is the ninth women's player to reach the 1,000-point plateau and first in 13 years, needed just three points heading into tonight's action. It took Hickey 4:11 of the first half to reach the milestone, as she knocked down a three from junior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy). Hickey then surpassed the standard with a lay-up from sophomore Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) at 14:35.

The hosts cut their deficit to 20-19 on a trey off the hands of sophomore Sally Simpson (Minneapolis, MN/Academy of the Holy Angels). However, 10 straight Wheaton points during a 2:30 stretch pushed the Lyons to their largest lead, with Hickey rattling off the first eight points, including back-to-back treys 31 seconds apart. MIT narrowed the gap to four with 21 ticks remaining in the half before Smith hit a jumper at the buzzer, giving Wheaton a 39-33 edge.

In the second half, the hosts were able to close within one at 48-47 with 12:42 to play, but the Lyons began to pull away, as the Engineers' only lead of the game came on the opening bucket. An 8-0 Wheaton spurt pushed the advantage back out to double digits, with Hickey and sophomore Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) contributing four points apiece, leaving the Lyons with a 59-49 advantage at 10:29. The visitors pushed their lead out to 76-61 with less than three minutes on the clock, as the Engineers scored 10 of the contest's final 12 points.

Wheaton hit at least 50 percent of its shots in each half, finishing at a 52.3 percent clip, including making 6-of-12 from downtown. Hickey's memorable night included a game-best nine rebounds, six coming on the offensive glass, with three assists and two steals. Hickey's 30 points rank in a tie for third in the program's annals, as she is just the sixth player to score 30, and her 12 field goals are the most by a Lyon in 14 years. Champney tallied 15 points, senior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) had 10, and Bailey dished out six assists, pulled down six boards and posted four steals.

MIT also shot above 50 percent from the floor, knocking down 50.9 percent overall while hitting 9-of-18 from beyond the arc. The Engineers committed 24 turnovers. Freshman Kelsey Cappelle (Ringoes, NJ/Hunterdon Central) recorded 20 points and six rebounds to pace MIT. Junior Clara Yuan (San Jose, CA/Archbishop Mitty) had six threes for 18 points, while senior Kimberly Soo Hoo (Benicia, CA/Berkeley) added 11 points and a game-high 10 assists.

The Lyons host Springfield College on Saturday in a conference contest at 1:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 1/31/08.
Questions about this page? Use our query form.

News Headlines

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Upcoming Schedule

6-Dec Sat Salve Regina H 1:00pm
30-Dec Tue William Smith N 4:00pm
31-Dec Wed Bowdoin A 4:00pm