Springfield, Mass. – January 10, 2024 – The Springfield College women's basketball team jumped out to a 10-point first-quarter lead and never looked back as it bested Babson, 58-48, on Wednesday night in Blake Arena. The two NEWMAC foes closed out non-conference play with the matchup as Springfield improved to 11-3 and the Beavers dipped to 6-8.

Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.) put forth a remarkable effort as she pulled down a career-best 22 rebounds, which was two off the program record established in 1990 and the fourth most in a single game across all of college basketball this season, while also registering a game-high 17 points. Lindsey Laughlan (Ellington, Conn.) netted 10 first-half points and Rachel Vinton (Holden, Mass.) stuffed her stat sheet with seven rebounds, six points, five assists, and four steals.  Springfield finished the game with a 48-36 advantage on the glass and outscored the visitors by a 34-20 margin in the paint. 

Babson was paced by 11 points from Samantha Reale, while Allessia Carlo tacked on 10 points and Chloe Perreault pulled down seven boards.  Babson was limited to 16-for-57 (28%) from the floor, including just nine made field goals through the first three quarters.  

The visitors took an 8-5 lead at the 5:01 mark of the opening quarter on a three-pointer from Carlo, only to have the hosts close out the quarter on a 14-1 run to gain a 19-9 advantage.  Springfield connected on 5-of-7 from the field in the spurt, including three from deep, highlighted by a triple at the horn by Natalie Lucas (Madison, Conn.).

Vinton would slice through Babson's defense for a driving layup with 5:27 remaining in the half to push Springfield's lead to 27-10.  Babson would answer with their first first field goal in nearly 10 minutes with a triple from Katelyn Mollica the next trip down the court. The visitors would get as close as 28-18 on a pair from the line by Madison Odam and Springfield would take a 32-21 cushion into halftime, with Laughlan pacing the hosts with 10 points.

A driving bucket from Seale on the first possession of the second half brought Babson within single digits, but Springfield would push back with a 12-2 surge as Lucas converted inside with 2:39 on the clock to help the hosts lead balloon to 19 points at 44-25.

The Beavers would not back down, bridging the third and fourth quarters with a 10-0 run to again trim it to a nine-point game.  The visitors would benefit from another inside score from Reale with 6:41 on the clock to make it a 48-41 game, but Czermecha answered with two freebies and Amanda Leary (Westbury, N.Y.) drilled a huge step back jumper to push the lead back to 11 under a minute later. A floater by Jaelen Daubon (Hyde Park, N.Y.) with 2:06 on the clock allowed Springfield to open up a 58-44 advantage as it held on for the victory.
 
Springfield begins conference play on Saturday when it travels to face MIT at 1 pm.

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