Northampton, Mass. – January 30, 2013 – The Smith College women’s basketball team opened up a 30-point half time lead as it toppled visiting Springfield College, 79-44, on Wednesday night in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action.

Alyssa Barrett and Paulina Solis each scored 22 points as Smith improved to 18-2, and 12-1 in NEWMAC play, while Springfield fell to 3-16, and 1-12 in the NEWMAC. The duo combined to shoot 9-for-15 from three point range.

Smith blew the game open early with a strong first half. Tied at six, Smith went on a 17-2 run fueled by a putback from Solis and back-to-back layups by Devon Quattrocchi. Solis was fouled on a three point attempt and knocked down all three shots, and Quattrocchi stole the ball and went coast-to-coast with for a layup that put Smith up 23-8.

Barrett’s shooting barrage began with a put back of a Bethany Claps miss, and continued with consecutive three pointers that put Smith up 43-15 with 4:03 left in the first half. Barrett canned another triple with 46 seconds remaining to send Smith into the break up 50-20.

Solis started where Barrett left off in the second half, hitting a three on the opening possession, and Smith never looked back, using two more threes from Barrett that put Smith up by 41, at 75-34.

Tamara Tribble led Springfield with 10 points, and Heather Lewis recorded nine points. In addition Jaimie Bickelhaupt pulled down nine boards to go along with eight points in 16 minutes of action.

Springfield will play again on Saturday when it travels to take on WPI at 3:00 pm.