BOSTON, Mass. (January 28, 2026) – Massachusetts Institute of Technology held off a fourth quarter comeback effort from Emerson College to collect a 69-58 victory in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Hank Smith Court at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium tonight.
Postgrad Mary Lobon and first-year Ruth Lanouette led MIT to a second win in as many nights with 31 combined points to lead three Engineers in double-figures in a balanced offensive effort. Lobon posted a double-double with 14 points, including ten in the first half, and a game-high 14 rebounds with four assists, while Lanouette scored 17 points, aided by 7-of-8 shooting at the free-throw line, with six rebounds, two assists, six steals and a blocked shot. First-year Riley O'Sulliva rounded out the Engineers in double-figures with ten points and nine boards.
Senior Bri Frongillo led all scorers with a game-high 21 points for Emerson with five rebounds, six assists and two steals. Junior Claire English scored ten of her 12 points in the second half, finishing 6-for-9 from the floor, with seven rebounds, a career-high five steals and a blocked shot. Sophomore Lindsay Gould rounded out the Lions double-figure scorers with ten points.
MIT made the most of its 13 offensive rebounds by posting a 21-9 advantage in second chance points, while also collecting steals on 11 of Emerson's 16 turnovers – paced by Lanouette's six. The Engineers led by as much as 17 (30-13) after scoring the first ten points of the second quarter with four different scorers, holding Emerson to 35.7-percent shooting (10-for-28) in the half, including 1-for-10 (10%) from three-point distance, while connecting at 45.2% (14-31) from the floor themselves.
The MIT lead was still 17 (45-28) after a layup from O'Sullivan with 3:54 to play in the third quarter. Emerson closed the gap to eight (50-42) as Frongillo capped a run of seven-straight Lions points, including back-to-back baskets from English, with a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Emerson extended the run to 12-0 after a three-pointer from junior Kendra Dodd and English layup to draw within three (50-47) with 8:47 still to play. The Lions trimmed the deficit to two (54-52) with a Frongillo triple with 6:45 remaining but could not get over the hump down the stretch. MIT converted 13-of-14 free-throws from there, along with a layup from postgrad Olivia Joseph, to restore a double-digit lead and seal the win.
Noteworthy
- Frongillo reached 20-plus points for the fifth time this season (31st career), leading Emerson in scoring for the ninth game (44th career) with her 54th career double-figure scoring game.
- English scored in double figures for the ninth game this year (19th career), collecting three-plus steals for the fourth time this season (6th career).
- Gould reached double-digits for the seventh time this season.
- Emerson shot 42.4-percent (14-for-33) from the floor in the second half, including 50% (8-16) in the third quarter, connecting on 7-of-18 (38.9%) three-pointers, to make the comeback bid.
Up Next
Emerson (12-6, 3-1 NEWMAC) returns to the court on Saturday when it visits Worcester Polytechnic Institute for a NEWMAC matchup at 2 p.m. The Lions return to Boylston Street next Wednesday, February 4, to host Babson College in NEWMAC play at 7 p.m. MIT (8-10, 2-2 NEWMAC) visits Salve Regina University on Saturday at 1 p.m.
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