Engineers dominate Albany, 65-49
In a hard-fought battle, the MIT Women’s Basketball team emerged with a 65-49 victory over Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in the consolation game of the Emerson College Tip Off Tournament on Sunday. Junior Lauren S. Burton ’13 led all scorers with 16 points and tacked on seven rebounds and three assists en route to All-Tournament Team honors for the Engineers.
Sophomore Rachel A. Hunt ’14 registered 11 points on a 9-of-10 performance for the charity stripe to go along with 11 rebounds and two blocks. Freshman Mari R. Kordell ’15 posted 14 points as she converted seven of her eight attempts at the free-throw line in addition to dishing out five assists. Tamara R. Pena ’14 tallied eight points, four assists, and three steals while Alexxis R. Isaac ’15 posted nine points and eight boards. Margo A. Batie ’14 hauled in a career-high nine rebounds, helping MIT finish the day with a 41-34 advantage on the glass.
The Panthers opened the game with seven unanswered points which resulted in a timeout by MIT. Following the break, Burton and Pena both drained a three-pointer causing Albany to use a timeout. After a basket by the Panthers, Kordell buried a trey that evened the score at nine while Isaac tacked on a free throw to put the Engineers in front at 13:54.
The game became a back-and-forth affair as three lead changes and two ties occurred during the next nine minutes that saw Albany take a 17-16 edge. A pair of free throws from Hunt put MIT ahead for good and ignited an 11-2 run for a 27-19 advantage at halftime.
The Panthers stayed close during the early stages of the second stanza as they trimmed their deficit to five on two occasions, the last at 33-28 after five minutes elapsed. The Engineers doubled their margin on three free throws from Hunt and two by sophomore Sharon S. Hao ’14 during the next minute, but Albany registered nine straight points to come within one (38-37) at the 10:52 mark.
MIT responded with a 10-3 spurt; however, the Panthers hit two of their next four free throw attempts to narrow the gap to six (48-42) with 4:25 left to play. A three-pointer by Burton thwarted Albany’s attempt at generating a late rally and sparked a 17-7 run to secure the victory.
Despite reaching the bonus with 8:25 remaining, the Panthers were 3-of-12 from the line and finished at 12-of-27 for the game. Tech, meanwhile, was 11-of-17 during the final 7:31 after entering the bonus and had a 23-of-32 performance at the charity stripe on the day.
Next up for the Engineers (2-1) will be a pair of games in California. On Friday, Nov. 25, MIT will visit Caltech and then will travel to Occidental College the next day.