Springfield, Mass. – December 4, 2012 – Despite its best offensive performance of the young season, the Springfield College women’s basketball team could not overcome a slugglish start as it dropped a 73-56 decision to visiting Smith College on Tuesday evening in Blake Arena in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play.

Smith improves to 5-1, 3-0 in league play while the Pride dropped now stands at 1-5, 0-3.

Devon Quattrocchi was tremendous for the visitors, pouring in 18 points, 17 of which came in the first half. Paulina Solis stuffed the stat sheet with a game-high 19 points to go along with nine steals and seven rebounds. Rosa Drummond finished the evening with 10 points and four boards.

For the Pride, Heather Lewis provided a great spark off the bench, netting a career-best 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Tamara Tribble added eight points and five boards. Springfield ended the evening with 28 turnovers, which Smith turned into 34 points.

Springfield finished shooting 25-54 (46.3%) for the game, including a 15-for-29 (51.7%) performance in the second half . The visitors finished the game 29-for- 73 (39.7%) but buried eight three-pointers compared to just one for the Pride.

The Pioneers seized control right from the onset, racing out to an early 7-0 lead at the 15:38 mark following a layup by Solis. Springfield was hampered by turnovers throughout the opening 20 minutes of play, committing 18 as it failed to find its offensive rhythm. Behind the steady play of Quattrocchi, Smith’s lead ballooned to as much as 24 and it went into the locker room with a 42-21 advantage. Despite both teams shooting 40% from the floor, the Pioneers drilled six from beyond the arc.

Smith cruised through the second half and extended its lead to as much as 37 on three occasions, the last coming after a Bethany Claps jumper with 10:09 left in the contest. Springfield’s reserves battled tough in the waning minutes of the game, closing out the final 3:55 on a 12-1 run. Brittany Gage netted six points in the spurt.

Springfield will next play on Friday evening when it hosts WPI for another conference game beginning at 7:00 pm.