Northampton, Mass. - January 7, 2023 - The Springfield College women's basketball team was outscored by a 20-6 margin in the third quarter and that proved to be the difference as it was downed by Smith, 64-50, on Saturday afternoon. 

The two nationally-ranked New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foes battled each other in a game that did not count in the conference standings.  The Pioneers improved to 12-1 win the win, while the Pride slipped to 10-4. 

Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.) netted 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) added 10 points and seven boards of her own.  Springfield was held to 16-of-54 shooting in the game, including 4-of-20 from deep.  For Smith, Morgan Morrison produced 21 points and 15 rebounds and Ally Yamada came off the bench to drill 6-of-9 from beyond the arc. 

Two free throws from Amelia Clairmont at the 3:45 mark of the first quarter gave the hosts a two-possession lead at 11-5 as Springfield would make just 2-of-8 from the field and turn the ball over five times in the first quarter.  Trailing 15-10 entering the second, the Pride would get a triple from Hourihan and jumper from Lindsey Laughlan (Ellington, Conn.) in the opening minute to tie things up.  Smith would later gain a 22-17 lead on a Morrison free throw, only to have the Pride close out the 3:16 of the quarter on a 8-3 push, as Emma Glaser's (Norfolkd, Mass.) bucket with 26 ticks on the clock sent the teams into the locker room even at 25. 

The Pioneers scored the first seven points of the second half to gain a 32-25 advantage following a triple from Dashelle Gleissner.  After Vinton knocked down two from the charity stripe to get the Pride on the board, Yamada scored nine points from beyond the arc to key a 9-2 burst as Smith's cushion ballooned to 41-29 with 2:58 on the clock. The Pride was held to just 2-of-16 shooting in the quarter as it went into the fourth trailing 45-31.

Smith would go up by as many as 19 points in the fourth at 52-33, but Springfield would mount a furious rally with a 17-4 run over the next six-plus minutes and trimmed the deficit to 56-50 after a Glaser three-pointer.  However, Clairmont responded with Smith's ninth trifecta of the game to seal it as the hosts closed out the game scoring the final eight points.  

Springfield will play its third-straight nationally-ranked opponent when it travels to face No. 14 Babson on Wednesday. 

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