WORCESTER, MA- The Wheaton College women's basketball team fell against a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe for just the second time in 19 games on Wednesday, continuing a four-game road swing by dropping a 58-47 affair at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in Harrington Auditorium. This marked the seventh time in their last nine meetings that neither team reached 60 points. The Lyons fell to 8-6 overall and 2-1 in league play, while the Engineers improved to 11-4 and 3-0.

Wheaton pulled out to a quick lead, scoring the first four points and nabbing an 8-4 advantage behind six points from junior Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford). Senior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) canned a three that made it 11-6 at 15:38 of the opening period, and junior Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) nailed a trey that gave the Lyons a 16-8 advantage at 11:44 before the Engineers came back.

Another Smith three had Wheaton ahead by six with a little more than six minutes remaining in the period, but WPI scored the next nine points to grab its first lead. However, senior Krystin Hickey's (Manchester, NH/New Hampton School) three-point play knotted the contest, and Champney's freebie with 49 seconds left gave the Lyons a 25-24 edge at halftime.

Wheaton shot 42.9 percent in the opening stanza and only led by one despite holding the Engineers to 24.2-percent shooting. The Lyons were 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, as Smith hit both of her attempts and finished the opening period with 10 points. WPI had 13 offensive boards, nearly matching the Blue and White's first-half tally of 14 total rebounds.

The Engineers led for the final 19:46 of the game after sophomore Elle Fontaine's (Franklin, MA/Bishop Feehan) bucket 14 seconds into the second stanza. WPI used a 10-2 run out of the gate to capture a 34-27 lead by 15:45 and twice led by eight before a Hickey three-pointer brought the Lyons within 39-36 at 9:33. The hosts responded with another 10-2 run to take their first double-digit lead, 49-38 at 4:36, and never again led by fewer than seven points.

Hickey scored 10 of her team-high 13 points after halftime, shooting 5-of-9 for the game while pulling down a team-best six rebounds. Smith added 12 points and two blocks, while Champney had nine points and a pair of rejections. Wheaton shot a solid 45.2 percent for the game while limiting WPI to a 30.9-percent showing, but the Engineers held a 43-29 advantage on the glass, including 24-4 on the offensive end of the court.

Fontaine finished with 19 points and seven rebounds, and junior Serena Dubois (Bangor, ME/Bangor) had 14 points and 16 rebounds, including 12 offensive caroms, while swatting three shots. Senior Natasha Deschene (Presque Isle, ME/Presque Isle) added eight points and 10 boards, eight of which were offensive.

The Lyons remain on the road when they face Smith College on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.