Springfield, Mass. - February 26, 2020 - The Springfield College women's basketball team earned a 59-49 victory over WPI in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Quarterfinals in Blake Arena on Wednesday night. 

The win advances Springfield to the NEWMAC Championship Semifinal on Friday night, where they will face Smith College at 7:30 pm. 

 Springfield earned a strong performance from Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.), who finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds. Emily Jacques (Auburn, Maine) added 11 points for the Pride while senior point guard Alex Goslin (South Windsor, Conn.) steadied the Springfield attack with eight points, seven assists, and six rebounds. Springfield owned the glass outrebounding WPI, 41-32. The Pride shot 26-of-60 from the field for 43%. 

WPI received a double-double effort from Spencer Vinson as the center finished with 11 points, 10 rebounds, and five blocks. Melanie Presseau led the Engineers in scoring with 12 points. Springfield held the Engineers to 34.5% shooting from the field and 19 turnovers on the night. 

Springfield went up 8-3 with 5:14 remaining in the quarter after three-straight jumpers from Jacques. WPI would respond with layups from Maddie Blake and McKenna Finken to make the score 8-7 with 3:22 remaining. To finish the quarter Hourihan would convert in the paint at 2:14, while Goslin would knock down a jumper with 1:04 remaining to give the Pride a 12-7 lead to end the quarter.

The Pride would stick back-to-back threes from Grace Dzindolet (Holliston, Mass.) and Hourihan to go up 18-10 with 8:46 on the clock. At 8:03, Houirhan would finish through contact in the post to give Springfield a 20-13 advantage. Spencer Vinson would covert from beyond the arc and on the free throw line to trim the lead to 21-17 with 6:34 remaining in the half. From there, the Pride would go on a 13-0 run over the next six minutes to go up 34-17, highlighted by the play of Rachel Vinton (Holden, Mass.). A last second three in the corner from Kara O'Neil would make the Pride's halftime lead 34-20. 

At 6:16, Vinson would finish through contact, then at 3:41, Bailey Savage would score on the break, to cut into the Pride's advantage making the score 41-28. However, with 2:07 to go in the third quarter, Hourihan knocked down a jumper from the high post to give Springfield a 47-28 lead. Back-to-back baskets from the Engineers would make the Pride's lead 47-33 at the end of the quarter.

Springfield would grab their largest lead of the game with another low post bucket from Hourihan off the pass from Taylor Hall (Tolland, Conn.). The Engineers would give their last effort at a comeback as they ripped off a 12-2 run to finish the game, but the Springfield lead proved to be too strong. 

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