Women's Basketball Falls To WPI, 69-35
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL FALLS TO WPI,
69-35
IN FIRST ROUND OF WPI INVITATIONAL
WORCESTER, MA, Dec. 30, 2006 - Elms College sophomore guard Jenn Payton (Stratford, CT) netted a game-high 15 points, but WPI placed two players in double figures and used a big first half run to pull away to a 69-35 win over the Blazers in Saturday's opening round of the 2006 WPI Invitational at Harrington Auditorium.
Elms College lost its third straight game to fall to 3-6 and will play in Sunday's 1:00 p.m. third place game against the loser of Saturday's other first round game between Tufts University and Plattsburgh State.
WPI, meanwhile, won its second straight to improve to 5-4 and will play in Sunday's 3:00 p.m. title game.
Elms College came out strong early as it scored seven of the game's first nine points in the opening two minutes to grab a quick 7-2 lead.
The Engineers responded with a 6-0 run in the next 2:30 capped off by freshman guard Kaileen Selen's (Worcester, MA) 3-pointer to take an 8-7 lead.
From there, the Blazers led just once more in the game (11-10) before WPI closed out the final 14:45 of the first half with a 25-6 run to build a 35-17 lead at intermission.
The host Engineers held a decisive 31-13 advantage in rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, including 12-4 on the offensive end.
Sophomore center Michele Perry (Pelham, NH) delivered a team-high 12 points for WPI, which led by as many as 32 (67-35) in the second half en route to victory.
Freshman forward Amanda Brogna (Oxford, MA) tallied nine of her 11 points in the first half for the Blazers in the loss.