Springfield, Mass. - January 2, 2016 - The Springfield College women's basketball team rebounded from a slow start to cruise to a 66-51 win over Wesleyan in the opening game of the 2016 Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena.

Springfield improves to 7-2 win the win, while Wesleyan dropped to 6-3. The Pride will play again on Sunday at 3:00 pm when it hosts 15th-ranked Tufts.

Ava Adamopoulos (Ludlow, Mass.) led all players as she produced 18 points, six boards, and four assists in 17 minutes of action off the bench.  Emily Gins (Fort Myers, Fla.) chipped in 12 points, nine caroms, and five steals, while Heather King (Lebanon, N.H.) added a game-high 13 rebounds to go along with eight points and four steals.  Springfield owned a 36-22 edge in paint and turned 16 offensive rebounds into 19 points.

The visiting Cardinals were led by Brenna Diggins (Norwell, Mass.), who netted 15 points.  Danielle Gervacio (Ossining, N.Y.) tallied eight points off the bench, and Tara Berger (Purchase, N.Y.) pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.  The difference in the game proved to be the second and third quarters, in which the Pride outscored Wesleyan, 40-19.

Wesleyan put together a strong opening quarter in which they led by by as many as 12 after Gervacio drilled a three from the left wing to push the score to 16-4. The Pride struggled offensively, going just 4-of-19 from the field and found itself trailing 18-8 after 10 minutes of action.

Springfield took control of the second quarter from the onset, pouring on an 8-0 run in the opening 4:47 to close within 18-16 on a transition bucket from King before Christa Brent (Wilmington, Mass.) knocked down a jumper from the elbow to give Springfield a 23-22 cushion.  A runner by Chelsea McAllister (Springfield, Vt.) in the waning seconds gave the hosts a 27-26 lead heading into the break.  The Pride went 8-for-15 from the field, with Adamopoulos netting six of the Pride's 19 second-quarter points.

The Pride continued its strong play, outscoring Wesleyan, 21-11, in the third quarter.  Springfield's lead grew to 46-37 after an awesome feed from Adamopoulos led to a corner three by Molly McCausland (Millbury, Mass.) with 1:50 left in the third, forcing Wesleyan into a timeout.  

After Wesleyan closed within 52-45 with 7:50 on the clock, Springfield used back-to-back triples by McCausland and Lexi Windwer (Milton, Mass.) and a great inside finish by Adamopoulos to cap off a 10-0 run and expand its lead to 62-45 with 5:12 left in regulation.  The Cardinals would get as close as 11 only to have Springfield close out its fifth-straight victory.