Northampton, Mass. - February 9, 2022-  In a battle between two nationally-recognized programs, the Springfield College women's basketball program fell on the road to Smith College, 65-55, on the Wednesday night at Ainsworth Gym in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play. 

Springfield, who came into the game ranked No. 14 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) National Coaches Poll, dropped its third game of the season and holds a 18-3 record with a 4-3 record in NEWMAC play. Smith, who was receiving votes in the latest national polls, improves to 18-2 and 7-0 in league play. Springfield shot 40.7% from the field on 22-of-54 shooting was edged on the glass by the Pioneers, 30-28. 

Springfield finished with four players in double figures as Sidney Wentland (Elk River, Minn.) led the Pride with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) tallied 12 points and seven boards. Stephanie Lyons (Boston, Mass.) added 11 points in the setback. 

Morgan Morrison gave Smith a boost off the bench with 15 points. Dashelle Gleissner put together a complete game with eight points, 10 assists, four rebounds, and five steals. 

Both teams committed to the defensive end in the first quarter as the Pioneers held a 10-9 edge with 3:07 to go in the quarter. The Pioneers went up 12-9 with 1:53 remaining as Jane Loo finished inside for the home team. Riley Robinson (Adams, Mass.) stepped behind a screen for a straight-away three to tie the game at 12-12. 

The hosts used a 9-3 spurt to grow its lead to 21-15 after a layup from Gleissner with 3:53 to go, meanwhile, Grace Dzindolet (Holliston, Mass.) canned a jumper to dip into the Pioneers lead and make the score 21-17. Smith would respond with a 8-0 burst to take a 29-17 lead with two minutes remaining. Springfield was able to bring the game to single digits before the half after a layup from Lyons, then, Vinton would rip away the ball from Gleissner and beat the buzzer on a breakaway layup to make the score 29-21. 

Wentland would give the Pride an energy boost to start the third accounting for the Pride's first three makes of the quarter, the latest coming at the 7:13 mark as the graduate student finished through contact to make the deficit just 34-27 for Springfield. The Pioneers would eventually take a 42-27 lead courtesy off a 8-0 run, however, Springfield found a way to bring the game in reach as Dzindolet would stick a pair of three-pointers, before a Vinton midrange jumper with 24 seconds to go would make it a nine-point game with 24 seconds to go. A late foul would give Smith the chance to improve its lead to 47-37 heading into the fourth. 

After an opening three from Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.) that brought the score to 47-39, Smith would put together a 9-2 run that would span into the four minute mark and give the hosts a 56-41 lead. Springfield continued to get timly buckets, however Smith would come up with a response and pull away with a final score of 66-55. 

Springfield will travel to Emerson College Saturday for a 1:00 matchup with the Lyons. 

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