Springfield, Mass. – January 19, 2013 – Tamara Tribble tallied a game-high 15 points, including the clinching three-point play with 21 seconds remaining, to lift the Springfield College women’s basketball team to a 41-39 win over Wheaton College on Saturday morning in Blake Arena.

The Pride snapped its six-game losing skid to improve to 3-13, and picked up its first conference win of the season to now stand at 1-9 in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. The Lyons dropped to 7-10, 4-6.

The game was played at the unusual start time of 10:00 am due to Springfield College once again serving as host for the Basketball Hall of Fame HoopHall Classic.

Tribble added eight points and four steals to her stat line on the day as she came up clutch in the win. Emily Walker totaled a game-high nine rebounds to go along with seven points. Heather Lewis chipped in with seven points and five rebounds for the Pride.

Wheaton’s Abbie Brickley recorded 14 points in the loss, while Kiley Shoemaker totaled seven points and five caroms. Kenzie Kuhn registered four steals, four points, and three helpers.

Springfield finished the game shooting 14-for-44 (31.8%), while the visitors were limited to just 16-for-59 (27.1%). Springfield committed 23 turnovers in the game, but benefited from a 13-for-20 performance from the charity stripe. Wheaton turned the ball over 19 times and struggled from downtown, going just 2-for-16.

After falling behind 2-0 after Shoemaker knocked down the gameÂ's opening jumper, Springfield would not trail for the remainder of the first half. A conventional three-point play by Tribble at the 15:51 mark capped off an 7-0 run by the Pride as it snagged a 7-2 lead in the early going.

The visitors responded with a 9-4 push, with a straightaway three by Melissa McLaughlin knotting the game at 11 with 10:22 left in the half. Springfield would hold a three-point lead four times during the remainder of the half, the last coming on a Tribble bucket inside following a terrific look from Jaimie Bickelhaupt, as the hosts went into the half with a 20-17 advantage.

Springfield took its largest lead of the game 2:03 into the second half after Andrea Moschetta knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 24-19. Wheaton would use Brickley’s put-back three-point play at the 15:33 mark to cap off a 6-1 burst to even things at 25-all.

Wheaton would eventually take its first lead since the 18:29 mark of first half on a layup by Jana Jagodzinski, making the score 29-28, with 10 minutes remaining in regulation. However, Lewis answered right back with a baseline jumper to put the hosts back in front.

Springfield would maintained no more than a three-point cushion until things got tense with under two minutes to play. Following a Springfield turnover, Kuhn stole the ball and found Brickley inside, who scored against a triple team while being fouled. The ensuing free throw put the visitors up 37-36 with just 1:48 left.

After the Pride came up empty on its next possession, Tribble snagged a steal after half court and converted her fast-break bucket to put Springfield up for good. Wheaton committed another turnover their next time down the floor, and Tribble hauled in an offensive rebound and was fouled while scoring the putback as her three-point play made it 41-37 with 21 seconds left.

Kuhn scored inside to made it a one-possession game with 12 ticks on the clock, and Wheaton had a chance to win or send the game to overtime after Springfield threw the inbounds pass away. However, Meghan Biondolillo played tremendous defense on Kuhn and her jumper from 15 feet feel just short as Springfield earned the two-point win.

The Pride will hit the court again on Wednesday evening when it hosts Clark at 7:00 pm.