Cambridge, Mass. - February 24, 2016 - For the second time in three seasons, the Springfield College women's basketball program earned a hard-fought road victory in the opening round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Tournamenf, as the fifth-seeded Pride defeated the fourth-seeded MIT Engineers, 57-48, on Wednesday evening at the Rockwell Cage.

With the win, Springfield improves to 17-9 overall, and will advance to play top-seeded and defending NEWMAC Champion Babson College in Staake Gymnasium on Saturday, February 27 at 5 p.m.

Springfield shot 23-for-59 (39%) from the field, while the Engineers, which held a 50-39 edge on the glass, were 19-of-58 (32.8%) shooting on the evening, and 6-for-15 (40%) from the free-throw line in the loss.

The Pride was led by its senior captains, as forward Emily Gins (Fort Myers, Fla.) notched 14 points to go along with six rebounds, three steals and two assists, while classmate Heather Lewis (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) posted 13 points, 10 of which came in the first half, five rebounds and three assists. Additionally, sophomore Carli Brent (Wilmington, Mass.) provided a spark off the bench with seven points and three rebounds, while Heather King (Lebanon, N.H.) produced eight points in the win.

For the Engineers, senior guard Sabrina Drammis (Hilton Head Island, S.C.) notched a team-high 12 points, while Maya Ramachandran (Fremont, Calif.) posted eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds in the defeat.

Springfield took an early 10-8 lead just 4:00 into the contest, when Lewis knocked down a jumper, starting a 6-0 run for the Pride, which was capped by a basket from junior Ava Adamopoulos (Ludlow, Mass.) to make it 14-8 with 4:16 left in the period. Following a basket from Drammis to cut the Engineers' deficit to four, Springfield netted six more unanswere points to end the first quarter with a 20-10 lead.

Pushing its lead to 12 following a jumper from Lewis to start the second, the Engineers made it a six-point game following back-to-back lay-ups from Ramachandran, but another jumper from Lewis helped Springfield retain its 10-point lead with 1:08 left in the half. Liana Ilutzi (East Hanover, N.J.) knocked down a pair of free-throws to make it 30-22, Springfield, at the half.

Holding a 38-22 lead after an offensive rebound and lay-up from Brent with 5:03 left in the third, Adamopoulos and Lewis answered a push from the Engineers with four-straight points to make it 42-27, Pride, with 1:53 to go in the period. After a free-throw from Brent, Ramachandran answered with one of her own to make it a 15-point game heading into the final stanza.

MIT began to chip away at its deficit, as it found itself down just nine points following a triple from Taylor V'Dovec (Blaine, Wash.), but free-throws down the stretch from Gins, Lewis and Lexi Windwer (Milton, Mass.) helped Springfield seal the 57-48 victory.