CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Simmons College women's basketball team was defeated at host Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 72-35, this afternoon at Rockwell Cage in Cambridge, Mass. The Sharks fall to 2-18 on the season, while the Engineers improve to 14-8.
MIT held Simmons to 25.6% (10-39) shooting for the game, while forcing the visitors into 27 turnovers, which resulted in a 25-9 point advantage in points off miscues for the home team.
Senior forward Presley Silva (Wilmington, Mass.) led the Sharks with 10 points to net double-digits for the seventh straight game. She also added five rebounds, three blocks and an assist, while junior forward Molly Phillips (Cranston, R.I.) chipped in with seven points and three rebounds.
First year forward Kylie Gallagher (Upton, Mass.) led all scorers with 16 points on 6-9 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds to go with an assist and two steals in 20 minutes for the Engineers, while classmate Jocelyn Luizzi (Colchester, Conn.) scored 13 points, grabbed seven boards and handed out a pair of assists. Junior guard Taylor V'Dovec (Blaine, Wash.) contributed with 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
First year guard Carli Koffinke (Franklin, Mass.) knocked down a three-pointer with 5:21 left in the opening quarter to pull Simmons to within 6-5, but it was as close as the Sharks would get for the rest of the afternoon as MIT finished the quarter on a 6-0 run to take a 12-5 lead after one period of play.
First year guard Jalissa Rodriguez (Waterbury, Conn.) hit a trifecta at the 6:34 mark of the second quarter to cut the deficit to 20-12 for Simmons, but the Engineers closed out the half with a 16-6 stretch, fueled by 11 points from Luizzi, to take a 36-18 lead into the intermission.
MIT put the game out of reach, reeling off the first 17 points of the second half, behind eight points from junior guard Kara Holinski (Livonia, Mich.), to increase its advantage to 53-18 with 4:58 left in the third period. Rodriguez ended the scoring drought for the Sharks, making the second of two free throws at the 4:48 mark. Sophomore guard Cindy Si (San Antonio, Texas) converted a lay-up to give the Engineers their largest margin of the period at 58-21 with 2:13 to go in the quarter, before Simmons scored five unanswered points to end the period, including a three-pointer from Phillips to make it, 58-26.
MIT maintained its cushion throughout the final period of play before coming away with the victory.
The Sharks return home for their final home contest of the season when they host Great Northeast Athletic Conference foe University of Saint Joseph (Conn.) on Tuesday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m. Simmons will also honor its All-Conference recipients across all sports at halftime. The Engineers will be in action again on February 14 when they travel to Babson Park, Mass. to take on Babson College at 7:00 p.m.