The New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference

Worcester, MA --- Kate Maki (Fitchburg, MA) equaled her career-high with 13 points, including four 3-pointers, to help lift fourth-seeded WPI to a 50-41 victory over fifth-seeded Babson in a NEWMAC Women's Basketball Tournament first round contest on Wednesday.

With the win, WPI (15-9) reaches the semifinals for the third straight year and will face top-seed and host Wheaton at 1pm on Saturday. Second seed Coast Guard will face third-seeded Springfield in the other semifinal. Babson sees its season come to an end with a 12-14 record.

Both teams started slow, going nearly the first three minutes without scoring, before Babson's Caitlin Fenn (Niantic, CT) connected on a jumper. It would be the Beavers' only lead of the game as WPI quickly responded with 13 straight points, bookended by 3-pointers from Maki.

The Engineers then used a 7-0 spurt at the end of the half to take a 29-12 advantage into the locker room at the half. Babson would not go away, cutting the lead to six at 42-36 with just under seven minutes remaining but WPI freshman Elle Fontaine (Franklin, MA) helped keep the visitors at bay by draining a trio of 3-pointers in the last nine minutes of the contest.

Fontaine ended the day with 11 points while Kaileen Selen (Worcester, MA) overcame a rough shooting night by registering nine rebounds and four assists to go along with her 10 points. Freshman center Charlotte McDonnell (Swansea, MA) equaled her career-high with eight rebounds while Serena Dubois (Bangor, ME) chipped in with six boards and four steals.

Fenn paced the Beavers offensively with 12 points while Leigh Myer (Seattle, WA) added 10. Vanessa Lovering (Hollis, NH) pulled down a team-best six boards for the Beavers while Caitlin Boulier (Wolcott, CT) led all players with six assists. Fenn also had a solid game defensively, picking up six of Babson's 15 steals on the night.

Newspaper Box Score

Babson vs WPI

2/27/08 7:00pm at Worcester, MA

At Worcester, MA

WPI 50, BABSON 41

BABSON (12-14)

Caitlin Fenn 5-10 0-0 12; Leigh Myer 4-6 2-4 10; Linsey Poulson 2-11 2-5 6;

Sarah Hughes 1-4 2-2 4; Nicole McManus 1-4 1-2 3; Vanessa Lovering 1-1 0-0

2; Kristy Benoit 1-1 0-0 2; Caitlin Boulier 1-11 0-0 2; Renay Hamilton 0-0

0-0 0; Rebecca Bowman 0-3 0-0 0; Jill Walsh 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-51 7-13 41.

WPI (15-9)

Kate Maki 4-9 1-2 13; Elle Fontaine 4-8 0-0 11; Kaileen Selen 4-14 0-1 10;

Caitlin Macko 2-3 2-2 6; Serena Dubois 2-7 0-0 4; Natasha Deschene 1-4 1-2

3; Melissa Kuhn 1-2 0-0 3; Amber Dangelo 0-1 0-0 0; Charlotte McDonnell 0-0

0-2 0; Brittany McNally 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-48 4-9 50.

Babson........................ 12 29 - 41

WPI........................... 29 21 - 50

3-point goals--Babson 2-10 (Caitlin Fenn 2-3; Linsey Poulson 0-1; Caitlin

Boulier 0-6), WPI 10-24 (Kate Maki 4-7; Elle Fontaine 3-6; Kaileen Selen

2-7; Melissa Kuhn 1-1; Natasha Deschene 0-2; Caitlin Macko 0-1). Fouled

out--Babson-None, WPI-None. Rebounds--Babson 34 (Vanessa Lovering 6), WPI 37

(Kaileen Selen 9). Assists--Babson 10 (Caitlin Boulier 6), WPI 11 (Kaileen

Selen 4). Total fouls--Babson 13, WPI 12. Technical fouls--Babson-None,

WPI-None. A-300

2008 NEWMAC Women's Basektball Tournament - First Round

Fourth-seeded WPI advances to the NEWMAC Semifinals.

They will play top-seed and host Wheaton at 1pm on Saturday.

Fourth Seeded WPI Defeats Fifth Seeded Babson 50-41