THE BASICS:
 
- Score: MIT 80, Clark University 59
 
- Records: MIT (12-9, 7-3 NEWMAC); Clark (8-14, 1-8 NEWMAC)
 
- Location: Worcester, Mass. (Kneller Athletic Center)
 
- The Lead: MIT outscored Clark University, 26-5 in the third quarter, propelling it to an 80-59 victory in the final game of the NEWMAC women's basketball regular season. Senior Christina Antonakakis (Holmdel, N.J.) led all players with 23 points to go along with four assists while first-year Angie Choi (Cypress, Calif.) generated 22 points, four rebounds, and two steals in 24 minutes of action.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
 
- Clark gradually built an 18-11 lead at the 3:38 mark of the opening quarter. Sparked by Choi's three-pointer and then capped by her jumper at the buzzer, the Engineers rattled off 11 unanswered points to go ahead for good.
 
- After a back-and-forth start to the second quarter, back-to-back treys by Choi and a layup from first-year Elise Harvey (Wayland, Mass.) increased MIT's advantage to 32-21 with 7:35 on the clock. The Cougars chipped away at the deficit and eventually tied the game at 33 with 3:33 left. A four-point play by senior Paula Pieper (Greenville, S.C.) created some breathing as the Engineers went on to hold a 43-39 lead at halftime.
 
- Choi sank a free throw early in the third quarter but Clark made a layup, narrowing the gap to 44-41 after 2:44 elapsed. This was as close as it would get as MIT generated 16 straight points in a span of four minutes, building a 60-41 advantage. Antonakakis accounted for 10 points, including a four-point play. The Engineers went on to create a 69-44 margin at the end of the quarter.
 
- The fourth quarter was balanced in scoring as the Cougars had a 15-11 edge.
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
 
- Pieper tallied eight points, eight rebounds, six assists, and three steals while senior Annika Sougstad (Mahtomedi, Minn.) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
 
- MIT led the way in points off turnovers (23-16), second-chance points (7-5), and bench scoring (23-13) but Clark had the upper hand in rebounds (39-37) and points in the paint (32-18).
 
- The Engineers shot 43.3 percent (29-of-67) from the floor, 50 percent (13-of-26) from three-point range, and 64.3 percent (9-of-14) from the free throw line.
 
- The Cougars shot 34.4 percent (21-of-61) from the floor, 23.1 percent (3-of-13) from behind the arc, and 60.9 percent (14-of-23) at the charity stripe.
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT will be the No. 5 seed for the NEWMAC Tournament and will travel to No. 4 WPI on Wednesday, Feb. 23 for a 7:00 p.m. quarterfinal match-up.
 
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