No. 17/15 Women's Basketball vs. MIT
Wednesday, February 15 | 7:30 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 56-13 all-time against MIT in a series that dates back to the 1976-77 campaign.
• The Beavers have won six of their last eight games against the Engineers, all by six points or less.
• The Green and White have lost their last two games against MIT inside Staake Gymnasium, both in NEWMAC Tournament semifinal games in 2019 and 2020, after the Beavers had won 16 of the previous 18 encounters in Babson Park going back to 2000.

LAST MEETING
• Senior Samantha Smith scored 16 points and visiting Babson rallied from a 12-point third-quarter deficit to edge MIT, 54-41, on February 16, 2022 at Rockwell Cage.
• Junior Madison Odam finished with eight points and senior Megan Bauman, junior Rachel McMenemy and sophomores Anika Chinthakunta and Abby Miller each scored six points for the Beavers. McMenemy led all players with 11 rebounds, while Bauman and sophomore Kiara Simone Davis dished out five assists apiece.
• Christina Antonakakis '22 led all players with 21 points for the Engineers while sophomore Angie Choi scored seven points and Kylie Gallagher '22 and Annika Sougstad '22 scored six points each and combined for 17 rebounds.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 17 d3hoops.com/15 WBCA Babson (19-4, 6-2) is looking to bounce back from an 80-67 defeat at No. 5/5 Smith on Saturday last Saturday in Northampton, Mass.
• Bauman played all 40 minutes and finished with 20 points and five assists to lead the Beavers. Smith scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting and junior Kelly Walsh added 11 points in the loss.
• Bauman (14.0 pts, 5.6 ast, 3.7 reb) ranks 13th in Division III in assists per game, Smith (11.8 pts, 7.9 reb, 2.2 blocks) is second in the NEWMAC in blocked shots, and Walsh (10.1 pts, 4.2 reb) has scored in double figures in 14 of her 22 outings this season. Sophomore Katelyn Mollica (9.8 pts) has made at least one three-pointer in 12 of her last 13 games and ranks second in the conference in 3-PT FG percentage (40.8).
• The Beavers led the NEWMAC and are ranked 17th in Division III in assist/turnover ratio (+1.12) and are ranked 25th in Division III in field goal percentage (43.1).

SCOUTING THE ENGINEERS
• MIT (15-8, 7-1) brings a program-record nine-game winning streak into Wednesday's game, including an 84-35 victory over Mount Holyoke on Saturday in South Hadley, Mass.
• Five players reached double-digits in scoring for the Engineers with graduate student Paula Pieper posting a game-high 13 points to go along with five assists. Sophomore Kamsi Nwogu added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, classmate Olivia Joseph chipped in with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and first-years Brianna Lebrun and Kaya Weiser provided 10 points off the bench.
• Nwogu (14.7 pts, 8.2 reb) is in the top three in the NEWMAC in scoring, rebounding and FG percentage (55.9). Choi (11.9 pts) and Pieper (11.0 pts, 4.3 reb, 4.3 ast) are also among the conference scoring leaders and Pieper is fourth in the league in assists.
• The Engineers are outscoring their opponents by an average of 70.2 to 48.8 during their nine-game win streak.

BEAVERS VS. THE ENGINEERS
• Smith is averaging 10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 60.0 percent in three games against the Engineers, including 16 points, five boards, two assists, three steals, and two blocks in last year's meeting.
• Bauman is averaging 10.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 5.0 assists while shooting just 32.5 percent from the floor in three career games against MIT.

NEWMAC HOME STRETCH
• Now in the final week of the regular season, No. 5/5 Smith (8-0) is in the driver's seat to capture the NEWMAC regular season crown.
• MIT (7-1), WPI (7-2), and Babson (6-2) are all within one game of each other in the race to finish runner-up, with Springfield (5-3) close behind. Coast Guard (4-4) and Emerson (3-5) have the edge for the final two playoffs spots.
• Seven of the 11 women's programs qualify to the NEWMAC playoffs, with the regular season champion receiving a first-round bye and the 2-4 seeds hosting quarterfinal games next Wednesday.

SHARP SHOOTING FROM THE LINE
• Bauman is ranked third individually in Division III, knocking down 92.1 percent from the line.
• Babson is ranked 19th in Division III free throw percentage with a 74.3 percent rate from the stripe.
• The Beavers have been perfect from line in four games this season against Brandeis (17-17), Middlebury (12-12) and both games vs. Springfield (7-7 and 15-15).
• The Green and White are 10-1 this season when making more free throws than the opponent and 13-2 when shooting 70 percent or higher from the line.

THE COMFORTS OF HOME
• The Green and White are 10-1 inside Staake Gymnasium this season and have gone 28-4 at home since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
• Babson's only setback at home was a 65-61 loss to then No. 17/20 Trinity, which is currently ranked No. 12/10.

MOVING UP IN HISTORY
• Bauman jumped two spots last Saturday into 11th place on Babson's career scoring list with 1,118 points. She needs 67 points to move into the top 10. She has also moved up to fourth on the career chart for three-pointers made with 86.
• After becoming the all-time assist Babson leader earlier this month, Bauman needs just five assists to break her own single-season mark for assists (132).
• Bauman is on pace to break the single-season free throw percentage, currently hitting freebies at a 92.1 percent clip. She just moved into the top 10 with 93 made free throws in a season.
• Smith has climbed to eighth on the single-season chart with 50 blocked shots. Only three others have recorded more blocks in a season, Sarah Collins '13 (four times), Nicki Wurdeman '12 (twice) and Meredith Hellen '05 (once).
• Mollica has 42 baskets from three-point land this season, which ranks tied for eighth on the single-season list for three-pointers, and her 40.8 percent from beyond the arc currently ranks fifth.

BY THE NUMBERS
• The Beavers are 17-0 on the year and have won their last 24 games when holding their opponents below 40 percent shooting.
• Babson is 18-3 this season and has won 31 of its last 37 games when scoring at least 60 points.
• Babson is 15-1 this winter and 78-2 since 2018-19 when carrying the lead into the fourth quarter.

A LOOK AHEAD
• Babson wraps up the regular season with a key NEWMAC game Saturday at WPI at 1 p.m.