DUDLEY, Mass. (Nov. 19) – In the 30th Worcester City Tournament, the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Engineers advanced to the championship game with a 65-60 victory over the host Nichols Bison. The Engineers were led by 15 points from freshman forward Siena Mamayek.

In the first half, Mamayek had 11 points, finishing the game with 15. Nichols senior Ashley Robidoux (Milford, Mass) had 10 first half points of her own and finished with a game-high 24.

The first half was close throughout. Nichols held the largest leads of the half at 6-0 and 8-2 early, but from there on it was a very evenly played half. Both teams shot an identical 10-28 from the field and 2-6 from beyond the arch. The problem for both teams in the first half was turnovers. WPI had 10 turnovers, while Nichols had eight. As with the rest of the stats, the score was even at 24 heading into halftime.

The game continued to be a back-and-forth battle in the second half. There were 10 lead changes before the mid-point of the frame, but with 11:29 remaining, WPI began a 17-3 run to open up a 51-40 lead.

Nichols would make it interesting late, cutting the lead down to four with a minute remaining, but that was as close as the game would get. Turnovers continued to be a problem for Nichols. The Bison had 13 second half turnovers, finishing the game with 21. WPI controlled the ball much better in the second half, only turning the ball over five times.

The Engineers had a very balanced attack on the scoreboard. Along with Mamayek's 15 points, sophomore forward Theresa Logan had 14 points, and senior guard Melissa Kuhn had 12.

For the Bison, senior Jessica Nelson (North Providence, R.I.) had a double-double with 15 points and 17 rebounds. She now stands 56 points away from the 1,000 point mark for her career.

With the victory WPI will advance to the Worcester City Tournament championship game and face Worcester State at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Nichols College will take on Becker in the consolation game at 1:30 p.m. The Lancers handed the Hawks a 57-33 defeat in the Tournament's second game.

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