Wheaton moves one step closer to first NEWMAC regular season title following 68-63 victory over MIT

February 20, 2008

NORTON, MA- The Wheaton College women's basketball team moved one step closer to capturing its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season title in the league's 10-year history thanks to a 68-63 victory over visiting Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Wednesday night in Emerson Gymnasium.

Should the Lyons defeat visiting Clark University on Saturday, Wheaton will claim its first regular season league championship since 1994-95, when the Blue and White won the New England Women's 8 Conference (NEW 8) title. Wheaton improved to 18-6 overall and 11-1 in the NEWMAC, while MIT fell to 12-12 and 4-8.

Each team put on an offensive display in the opening half, with Wheaton knocking down 65.4 percent (17-26) of its shots to MIT's 56.5 percent (13-23). The Engineers hit 10 of their first 14 shots, while the hosts made 10 of their initial 15, leaving the score at 22-21 in MIT's favor. Wheaton junior Krystin Hickey (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) forced the game's fourth tie with a free throw at 6:49 of the first frame. That was the start of a personal 6-2 run for Hickey, whose three at 3:58 gave the Lyons the lead at 27-24.

Wheaton used an 11-2 run over 2:20 and took a 38-28 advantage with 1:06 to go before halftime. The Lyons held a 40-30 lead at the break, with Hickey leading the way with 11 points on 3-of-3 shooting. Wheaton turned the ball over just six times while finishing with seven steals on 11 Engineer giveaways. For MIT, graduate student Samia Mahjub (Barrington, IL/William Fremd) had 10 points, while senior Kimberly Soo Hoo (Benicia, CA/Berkeley) dished out seven assists, including assisting on four straight baskets early in the stanza.

Sophomore Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) made a lay-up with 18:22 remaining to push the hosts out to their largest lead at 44-30, and Wheaton led by at least nine for much of the first 10 minutes of the half. With the Lyons holding a 48-35 advantage at 12:53, the Engineers went on a 14-4 run during 3:50 to get within three at 8:32. Mahjub had seven points in that stretch.

Clinging to a 54-51 edge at 8:16, Wheaton saw MIT rattle off seven straight points in securing its first lead since 5:35 of the first half. The Lyons responded with the next eight points, including a trey from senior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic), and Wheaton took the lead for good. Aitchison came up big in the final 46 seconds, corralling a pair of offensive rebounds and hitting two free throws as the hosts held a slim 66-63 lead with 20 ticks left. Aitchison grabbed a defensive board off a potential game-tying three to help seal the win.

Champney led Wheaton with 18 points, going 9-of-13 from the field. Hickey tallied 13 points and five assists, while Aitchison accounted for 11 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) and junior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) had eight and seven points, respectively, while sophomore Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) provided five assists.

Mahjub paced all scorers with 25 points, going 12-of-18 from the floor, to go along with six boards and four blocks. Juniors Cheryl Kwinn (Monroe, NY/Monroe-Woodbury) and Alice Yeh (Bellevue, WA/Newport) turned in 12 points each, with Kwinn adding a game-best 10 boards. Soo Hoo finished with 13 assists.

Wheaton hosts Clark during Saturday's regular season finale at 2:00 p.m.

This page is maintained by Scott Dietz. Last updated on 2/20/08.
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