Springfield, Mass. - December 3, 2022 - The Springfield College women's basketball program stormed back to defeat Middlebury, 65-53, on Saturday afternoon in a non-conference clash in Blake Arena. 

The nationally-ranked Pride are now 6-1 on the season, while Middlebury evens out to 3-3. The Pride shot 20-of-55 from the floor and 18-of-22 from the line. Springfield used an incredible fourth quarter to close out the game as the team scored 31 points and shot 60% from the floor in the quarter. 

Jaélen Daubon (Hyde Park, N.Y.) scored all of her team-high 18 points in the second to help lead the Pride. Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.) added another double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds. Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) stuffed the line with nine points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and no turnovers in 33 minutes of action. 

Alexa Mustafaj led all scorers with 23 points for the Panthers in the setback. 

Both programs got off to a slow start in the first quarter as the Pride found itself up 6-3 with 5:44 to go in the frame after Kayla Madden (Ashland, Mass.) canned one of two from the line. Middlebury scored a couple buckets to take a 7-6 lead with just 23 seconds left, however Madden stuck a wing three off the feed from Daubon to give Springfield a 9-7 lead after the first. 

The scoring picked up the second quarter for each program and the game remained within a three point margin throughout. At 6:55, Springfield tied the contest at 13-13 after Hourihan came off a screen and hit a jumper off the pass from Vinton. The Panthers earned a 20-17 lead with 1:58 to go in the half after Augusta Dixon converted a pair from charity stripe, which proved to be the biggest lead of the half for the Panthers. Springfield cut it to 20-19 with 59 seconds to play as Lindsey Laughlan (Ellington, Conn.) threaded a pass to a cutting Vinton for the lay-in just before the half to make it a one-point game. 

Middlebury built an 11-point lead with 4:18 remaining in the third as the Panthers received a scoring boost from Mustafaj, who finished in the lane to give the Panthers the 36-25 lead. The Pride chipped away at the lead over the following four minutes, but Mustafaj finished through contact with two seconds left to keep the Panthers ahead by a 41-34 margin. 

Springfield continued to climb back into the game in the fourth with consecutive buckets from Hourihan, then a transition kick out jumper from Stefany Padula (Franklin, Mass.), made it just a one point game at 44-43. Springfield used a 15-3 run spanning from 8:11 to the 3:51 mark to claim a 54-47 lead with major contributions coming from Hourihan and Padula during the run. Both Padula and Hourihan poured in 10 points in the final quarter. After Padula stuck her second three from the left wing with 2:20 to play, Middlebury began started to foul and Springfield converted 8 of 10 from the line down the stretch to take away the comeback victory.

Springfield will travel to Worcester State on Tuesday at 7:30. 

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Springfield "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.