Williamstown, Mass. – November 21, 2023 – Powered by a career-high 28 points from junior forward Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.), the Springfield College women's basketball team earned a 67-41 non-conference road win at Williams College on Tuesday evening.
Springfield, which outscored the Ephs by a 25-6 margin in the fourth quarter, improved to 5-1 on the season, while Williams dipped to 2-2 overall. It was a milestone victory for Naomi Graves, who in her 33rd season as the Pride's head coach, earned her 500th victory at Springfield College.
In addition to her 28 points, which featured an 8-for-12 shooting performance from the floor and a 12-for-14 showing from the charity stripe, Czeremcha posted 12 rebounds to complete her second straight double double in addition to having three assists and four steals tonight. Senior Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points, six rebounds, five assists, four steals and a block, while sophomore Amanda Leary (Westbury, N.Y.) shot 7-for-12 from the floor with 16 points and a pair of assists. Williams was paced by Ariannna Gerig, who notched 16 points and seven boards for the homestanding Ephs.
The lead changed on five occasions in the opening quarter as neither team held more than a three point advantage over the first ten minutes of the game. A pair of free throws by Vinton broke an 11-11 tie before a layup from Ellie Tounkara and a free throw from Gerig gave the Ephs a 14-13 edge after one.
Midway through the second, a layup from Czeremcha knotted the score at 19-19 before she buried a pair of shots from the charity stripe to give Springfield a 21-19 edge, a lead it would not relinquish for the remainder of the game. The Pride outscored Williams by a 9-4 margin following the free throws from Czeremcha and a layup from Vinton as time expired in the half as the score stood at 28-23 in favor of Springfield at the break.
Springfield ballooned its lead to eight at 36-28 after Leary and Vinton buried buckets from behind the arc and eventually pushed its lead to 12 at 42-30 following a layup from Czeremcha. Williams, however, answered with a pair of shots late in the third and cut its deficit to seven at 42-35 after 30 minutes of play.
A 19-0 run by Springfield over the first five minutes the final quarter put the game away and pushed the Pride's lead to 61-35. Leary led the charge with nine points in the run, while Czeremcha chipped in with six en route to the 67-41 final.
Springfield shot at a 34.9-percent clip from the floor (22-for-63) and made 18-of-20 attempts from the free throw line (90.0-percent) tonight. The Pride held a 49-32 differential in rebounds and turned 19 turnovers into 15 points.
The Pride will take a break for Thanksgiving before hosting Emmanuel College on Wednesday, November 29 at 7:00 pm inside Blake Arena.
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