MIT Pulls Away From Women’s Basketball In Fourth Quarter, 63-54

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team dropped a non-conference matchup to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by a 63-54 score on Saturday afternoon at the Rockwell Cage.

Tied 41-41 with 8:58 to play in the fourth quarter, MIT produced a 22-13 run down the stretch to pull away from the Gulls and earn its second win at home this season (2-2).

During MIT's late fourth quarter run, Endicott brought the game within one possession on three separate occasions, but the Engineers answered the bell each time.

Kaleigh Putnam (Wallingford, Conn.) was responsible for bringing the game within one possession in all three instances for the Gulls as the senior guard hit back-to-back treys at 6:53 (46-44) and 5:37 (50-47) and also converted a layup at 4:05 (52-49) before MIT answered its final test of the matchup via a 7-0 spurt to make the score 59-49 with 2:14 remaining and all but lock up the win.

Putnam finished with a game-high 18 points (6-17 FG, 4-10 3PT, 2-2 FT), while Emily St. Thomas (Sterling, Mass.) tied her career-high for points with 13 on 5-of-12 shooting (3-6 3PT) to go along with five assists, four rebounds, and three steals.

Mikaela Rogers (Haverhill, Mass.) also chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds, and an assist in the loss.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• MIT held a 28-16 advantage in points in the paint.
• The Gulls' bench outscored MIT, 18-9.
• This was the eighth meeting in the all-time series between the two programs.
• Putnam has now scored in double-digits in five out of her last six games (season-high 20 versus Salve Regina, 12/10/19).
• Endicott led 27-25 at halftime (largest lead - four points, 1:21, second quarter).
• Today's game featured nine ties and six lead changes.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (4-7) travels to Nichols for a league matchup on Tuesday, January 7 at 5:30 PM. MIT (3-7) hosts SUNY Poly next Tuesday at 4 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)