Northampton, Mass. - February 24, 2023 - The Springfield College women's basketball team battled against one of the nation's top-ranked squads and was upended by a 61-49 decision to Smith College on Friday night in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship Tournament Semifinals.  

Smith, who was ranked fourth in the nation in the most recent D3hoops.com Poll, improved to 25-1, while Springfield's season came to a close with an 18-9 mark. 

 Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.) led the way with 12 points and three steals, Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) scored 11 points, Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.) pulled down nine rebounds, and Kayla Madden (Ashland, Mass.) chipped in eight points off the bench.  Springfield shot 18-for-56 (32%) from the field, including 5-of-20 for deep, while the Pioneers owned a 35-23 advantage on the glass.

For the hosts, Morgan Morrison led all players with 17 points and 12 boards, Amelia Clairmont accounted for 15 points, and both Ally Yamada and Jessie Ruffner delivered 11 points.  The Pioneers shot 54.2% from the field on the night and canned 7-of-15 from beyond the arc. 

Smith jumped out to an 8-0 lead behind six quick points from Morrison just over three minutes into the game.  Czeremcha would knock down a jumper to pull the Pride within 16-8 at the 3:20 mark, but the Pioneers would close out the frame on a 5-2 surge to close the first quarter with a 21-10 cushion. 

A bucket from Ruffner pushed Smith's lead to 13 on the first possession of the second, but Springfield would battled their way back to make it a 27-20 contest following a triple from the right wing by Emma Glaser (Norfolk, Mass.). However, Smith would answer with points in the paint by Ruffner and Morrison to regain an 11-point lead which it would take into the half at 36-25. 

Springfield held Smith to just 11 points in the third quarter, but the visiting Pride shot just 2-of-12 in the stanza as it was unable to chip into the Pioneers lead. Springfield was able to get it to single-digits three times, the last coming at 44-35 on a pair of freebies from Czeremcha with under a minute to play, but Smith drilled a late triple to regain a 47-35 lead entering the fourth.  

Stefany Padula (Franklin, Mass.) connected from beyond the arc to keep it a nine-point game at 49-40 with 7:18 left in regulation, but Clairmont answered right back with consecutive triples of her own to force the Pride into a timeout facing a 55-40 deficit with 6:17 on the clock. Clairmont would account for 10 points in the quarter to help the hosts earn a 61-49 victory.

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