Sports Shorts
Women’s Rugby Team Wins National Championship
Three weekends ago, MIT Womens’ Rugby competed in the Division III National Championship in Cherry Hill, NJ. In the semifinal match, MIT easily defeated Hofstra University 63 to 5, led by Caroline H. Hunting ’11 and Adedoyin T. Ogunniyi ’11.
MIT faced East Stroudsburg University in the final. The Engineers exerted pressure on ESU and controlled the entire match. Rachel E. Forman G, Elizabeth B. Umhoefer ’10, Carly A. Narlesky ’11, and Ogunniyi all scored trys in the first half, the last coming as time expired, for a 24-5 lead heading into the break.
MIT would retain their momentum coming out of the half, scoring two tries within seven minutes. Ogunniyi would tack on one final try in the final seconds, beating four defenders on a 25-meter run. This was her 12th score of the tournament, and brought the score to 41-5, capping MIT’s dominating run to the championship. Captain Alyssa M. Baccarella ’11 was named the tournament MVP.
—Kat Kononov, Team Member
Springfield Edges Out Women’s Basketball, 53-51
Despite numerous MIT comeback attempts in the final minutes, Springfield College held on for the 53-51 victory Saturday afternoon. The Engineers were led by Kristen E. Whaley ’11 with 15 points and seven rebounds.
Springfield raced out to an 11-4 lead, but MIT slowly chipped away, at one point tallying seven unanswered points to even the frame at 21. Springfield went on to record the final five points of the half and entered the break with a 26-21 advantage.
In the second half, MIT scored eight straight at one point to go up 35-33. Springfield responded with a 10-2 spurt to take the lead for good with 9:36 left.
A three by Aparna A. Sud ’13 trimmed the deficit to one with 54 seconds on the clock. The Engineers had several opportunities to take the lead down the stretch, but were unable to convert.
MIT will host Babson on December 9 in its next matchup.
—Mindy Brauer, DAPER Staff