Wesleyan 57, WPI 55 

Box Score

Middletown, CT --- In a game that featured eight first-half ties and no more than a five-point differential throughout the second half, Wesleyan hung on for a 57-55 victory over visiting WPI. Junior Ali Fourney (East Northport, NY) hit the key basket for Wesleyan, nailing a three-pointer with 3:10 left to break a 48-48 tie (the 12th tie of the contest), putting the Cardinals ahead for good, 51-48. Sophomore Kiah McAndrew-Davis (Durham, NC) sank a pair of free throws at the 2:36 mark to pad the margin to 53-48.

It was 55-50 heading into the final 1:30. A three-pointer by WPI junior Natasha Deschene (Presque Isle, ME) with :27 left made it 55-53. Junior Meredith Lowe (Philadelphia, PA) then calmly canned a pair of free throws for Wesleyan at :18 for a 57-53 lead. WPI ran off 16 seconds before getting a jumper from junior Caitlin Macko (Cromwell, CT) to make it a two-point game. Wesleyan got the ball inbounds after a WPI timeout and senior Nikki Maletta (Durham, CT) eluded a pair of WPI defenders to run off the final ticks.

Wesleyan (3-1) got balanced scoring as six players had between seven and 11 points, led by senior Lucy Spring (Wilmington, VT) with 11. Fourney, McAndrew-Davis and senior Stephanie Savas (Brockton, MA) all added nine for Wesleyan. WPI (1-2), which had the game's largest lead at 17-10 midway through the first half and owned a substantial 46-26 edge on the boards, was led by sophomore Kaileen Selen (Worcester, MA) with 11 points. Sophomore Serena Dubois (Bangor, ME) had a game-high nine rebounds for the Engineers while Macko and Deschene eached dished out three assists

This was only the second meeting ever between the teams, the first coming New Year's Eve in 2005 in the championship of a tournament at WPI, won by Wesleyan, 63-56.

WPI returns to action on Saturday when they travel to Fitchburg State for a 2pm contest

Release courtesy Wesleyan Sports Information