WORCESTER, Mass.—Graduate student Steph Baxter (Worcester, Mass.) poured in a game-high 36 points to lift fourth-seeded Babson College to a 73-57 win over top-seeded WPI in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament semifinal on Thursday night inside Harrington Auditorium. 

Babson, which has won six of its last eight games, improves to 14-13 overall, and is headed back to the NEWMAC Tournament final for the second consecutive season. WPI, which was fourth in Tuesday's NCAA Region II rankings, slips to 21-5 and must wait until Monday to see if it receives an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

Baxter finished 13-of-25 shooting and added five rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Beavers. Junior Nate Amado (Hanson, Mass.) scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds, sophomore Timmy O'Toole (Milton, Mass.) totaled 11 points and two blocks and junior David Cross (Cinnaminson, N.J.) chipped in with 10 points in the win. 

Senior John Adams (Douglas, Mass.) posted a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds, while junior Aidan Callahan (Rowley, Mass.) and sophomore JR Newman (Havertown, Pa.) both added 10 points to pace the Engineers.

The opening 10 minutes featured four ties and five lead changes with neither team leading by more than three. The Green and White got a three-point play from Cross and a hoop in the paint by Amado to go up 23-19 at the 8:48 before WPI responded with a 9-0 spurt to take its largest lead of the stanza at 28-23 three minutes later. 

The Beavers responded by outscoring the hosts 11-4 over the final 5:10 of the half getting five points from Baxter and a late triple from O'Toole to take a 34-32 edge into the locker room. The Engineers started the second half with an 8-3 burst to go back up 40-39 on a layup by Callahan only to see Babson respond with 13-2 run over the next four minutes. Cross drilled a three-pointer from the left corner, Baxter contributed five points and O'Toole knocked down his third triple to give the Green and White a 52-42 advantage with 10:26 remaining. 

The lead was still 10 just over three minutes later before Baxter followed up a pair of free throws by Cross with a deep three-pointer from the top of the key to give Babson a 63-47 advantage with 5:05 to play. WPI got as close as 13 with just over three minutes to play but Baxter canned his fourth three-pointer of the night and the Green and White went 5-of-6 over the last 2:08.

The Beavers shot 46.3 percent from the floor and finished with a 39-31 edge on the glass. The Engineers shot just 27.6 percent in the second and 41.1 percent for the game and outscored the Green and White 34-26 in the paint. 

Babson will travel to second-seeded Clark for Saturday's NEWMAC Tournament final at 1 p.m. 

GAME NOTES
•    The Beavers are now 52-40 all-time against WPI and improve to 6-5 against the Engineers in the postseason. 
•    Babson is now 10-4 on the year when at least three players score in double figures. 
•    The Green and White has won 10 consecutive games and is 19-1 over the last two seasons when giving up 60 points or less. 
•    The Beavers are 14-9 all-time in the conference semifinals. 
•    Babson is 12-3 this season when shooting 40 percent or better from the field.