Women's Basketball Falls To MIT In Season Opener

Melissa Rogers put up a career-high 18 points
Melissa Rogers put up a career-high 18 points

MEDFORD, Mass. - Melissa Rogers (Billerica, Mass.) scored a team-high 20 points, Shannon Hayes (Billerica, Mass.)  added 14 points and five rebounds but it wasn't enough as the Regis (Mass.) women's basketball team opened the season with a 62-50 loss to MIT in the opener of the Tufts University Tip-Off Tournament Friday night at Cousens Gym.

The Pride (0-1) outshot the Engineers with a 43.2 shooting percentage from the floor and equaled MIT with 36 total rebounds, but it were the 21 turnovers that did the Pride in. Regis turned over the ball 21 times to MIT's 11.

Kara Holinksi delivered a game-high 21 points on 7-14 shooting for MIT with Kylie Gallagher corralling a game-high 11 rebounds and Dolly Yuan handing out 10 assists, also a game high.

Neither team could find the basket in the first quarter which ended in a 7-7 stalemate, but the offense picked up for both teams in the next period. Six straight points by the Pride midway through the second quarter helped Regis to a 14-9 lead but MIT countered with a run of its own and took a 17-16 lead off a Holinski three ball. Rogers responded with a bucket and a three pointer to regain the lead for the Pride who would trail by just one point heading into halftime.

The second half would prove to be a different story as MIT slowly built a double digit lead it would carry through the final score. Rogers provided the offense for stretches of the third quarter, draining back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 33-31 with 5:39 remaining in the period. Holinski again responded, hitting from beyond the arc and adding a layup to help her team to a 41-31 lead with 4:38 remaining in the quarter.

MIT would be unable to shake the Pride though who cut the lead to six points on two occasions but Gallagher's and-one layup with 5:35 remaining in the game gave MIT a 57-43 lead.

Regis retakes the court Saturday against the host Tufts Jumbos at 3:00 p.m.

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