Worcester, Mass. - January 31, 2015 - Junior guard Heather Lewis (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) posted a game-high 20 points but the Springfield College women's basketball program suffered a 56-55 overtime loss at the hands of WPI on Saturday afternoon.

With the loss, the Pride suffer its first setback in the last seven games and fall to 14-6 overall and 9-2 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. The win however boosts WPI's record to 13-6 on the season and 6-4 in the league.

Coming into the contest ranked No. 5 in the country in field-goal percentage defense allowing teams to shoot just 31.5% from the field allowed WPI to shoot 36.1 percent on the day, converting on 22-of-61 of its looks. The Pride were 21-of-62 (33.9%) on the afternoon.

Along with Lewis' 20 points and five rebounds, senior forward Jaimie Bickelhaupt (Brookfield, Conn.) posted 11 points, six rebounds and a game-high four rebounds, while sophomore guard Lexi Windwer (Milton, Mass.) converted three triples on the afternoon, finishing the game with nine points. Junior forward Emily Gins (Fort Myers, Fla.) posted a game-high 15 rebounds.

The hosts sprinted out to a 7-0 lead following a three-pointer by Lisa Mendez (Yonkers, N.Y.) just 3:04 into the contest. Springfield evened it up 2:26 later with a seven-point spurt of its own featuring a pair of buckets by Lewis. The Pride held a three-point advantage with 1:06 remaining following a Lewis jumper only to see Amaia Gritsko (Milford, Conn.) respond with one of her own. Larsen canned a free throw with 12.8 seconds showing on the scoreboard for the 23-23 halftime stalemate. In all, there were six ties and three lead changes in the opening stanza.

WPI used a 7-0 spurt midway through the second half to trim a 11 point deficit down to four but the Pride quickly countered with seven of the next nine points to push the bulge back to nine at 47-38 on a Dina Pitsas (Milford, N.H.) jumper at the 7:06 mark.  That would mark the final points of regulation from Springfield as the Engineers went on a 9-0 run spearheaded by five points from Dani Davis (East Granby, Conn.), including a game-tying layup with 23 seconds left, and a pair of Larsen baskets, to force overtime.

The Engineers led by three in the extra session at 54-51 following a Jessica Larsen (Poway, Calif.) layup with 1:45 remaining. Springfield retook the advantage with four straight points by Lewis.  After both teams came up empty on their ensuing possession, Davis was fouled driving in on the left block, and drained both free-throws to give WPI a one-point lead with 12.7 seconds remaining.  Springfield had a chance to win following a timeout but a three-point attempt was successfully defended.

Springfield will return to action on Tuesday, February 3 at 7 p.m. when it will host Smith College.