Springfield, Mass. – February 8, 2014 - The Springfield College women’s basketball team earned a 69-45 win over Wellesley on Saturday in a New England Women’s & Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) match up in Blake Arena.

Jaimie Bickelhaupt (Brookfield, Conn.) paced the Pride with a game-high 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting, plus eight rebounds. Lexi Windwer (Milton, Mass.) played well for the Pride, scoring 12 points and and handing out four helpers. Ava Adamopoulos (Ludlow, Mass.) contributed 11 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting, plus six boards. Emily Gins (Fort Myers, Fla.) tallied eight points and seven rebounds and Dina Pitsas (Milford, N.H.) finished the day with eight points and four rebounds off the bench.

Springfield shared the ball well on Saturday, tallying 25 assists on 28 baskets. At the half, the Pride had dished out 14 assists on 15 baskets.

In the last three games, Springfield has posted wins by 19, 22 and 24 points. With the win, the Pride improves to 13-9 overall and 9-8 in the NEWMAC. Wellesley falls to 14-6 on the season and 11-5 in conference play with the loss.

The Pride shot an impressive 62.5% from the field in the first half. Springfield went on a 7-0 run to start the game, highlighted by baskets from Windwer, Bickelhaupt and Gins.

Wellesley was led by Leslie Leong (Sacramento, Calif.) with a team-high 14 points and four assists. Katie Shulenberger (Ashland, Ore.) posted eight points, three rebounds and three assists for the Blue while Natalie Anderson (Bellevue, Wash.) finished the day with seven points.

Baskets by Morgyne Weaver (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and Anderson helped Wellesley put together a 5-0 run of its own to make it a two-point game (7-5) in the first five minutes, but it was all Springfield for the rest of the half.

The Pride held the Blue scoreless for 5:58, scoring 15 points in that span. Shulenberger ended the drought for Wellesley, hitting two free throws to make it a 26-8 game with 6:48 left in the first.

Adamopoulos was strong down low for the Pride, posting 10 of her 11 points in the first half.

Springfield put up seven points in the last 1:11 of the first, as Bickelhaupt and Adamopoulos both scored back-to-back baskets in the paint. Pitsas made it a 35-15 game at halftime, knocking down a three-pointer at the buzzer on a feed from Andrea Moschetta (Harrison, N.Y.). After Wellesley’s Anderson hit a jumper 34 seconds into the second half, Moschetta knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to put the Pride up 38-17, just 1:17 into the half.

Springfield led by as much as 25 points in the match up, as Emily Taylor (West Springfield, Mass.) pulled up for a jumper to put the Pride up 53-28 with 8:41 left on the clock.

Down the stretch, Wellesley put together a 10-0 run to come within 15 points. An Anderson lay up, followed by back-to-back three-pointers by Leong and a basket by Shulenberger made it a 59-44 game with 2:59 to play. Springfield answered back with a 10-0 run of its own to bring the lead back up to 25 points with just 20 seconds on the clock. Bickelhaupt had five points in that span.

In the first meeting of the season between the two teams, Wellesley came away with a 67-57 win. On Saturday, Springfield was in control the entire game. The Pride shot 28-of-52 (53.8%) from the field, 6-of-7 (85.7%) from three and 7-of-9 (77.8%) from the foul line. Wellesley finished the game 14-of-44 (31.8%) from the field, 6-of-20 (30%) from three and 11-of-18 (61.1%) from the foul line.

The Pride will host Smith College on Wednesday for the final home game of the season, tipping off at 5:30 p.m. Wellesley will also play again on Wednesday, hosting Clark at 7:00 p.m.