Springfield, Mass. - January 6, 2024 - The Springfield College women's basketball team was upended in double overtime by Smith, 72-71, on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena.

In a non-conference matchup between conference foes, 18th-ranked Smith improved to 10-2 on the year, while Springfield, which was receiving votes in the D3hoops.com National Poll, slipped to 10-3.  All three of the Pride's losses this season have come to nationally-ranked teams.

Rachel Vinton (Holden, Mass.) did all that she could for the Pride in the setback as she netted a career-high 27 points and pulled down a career-high14 rebounds to go along with five assists, three steals, and two blocks in 47 minutes of action.  Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.) added 10 points and six boards and Claire Finney (Haverhill, Mass.) chipped in eight points and five rebounds off the bench.   The Pride led by 10 with 6:19 left in regulation but would go 1-for-16 in the final 16-plus minutes as the Pioneers rallied for the win. 

Jessie Ruffner paced the visitors with 29 points, highlighted by a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer of regulation to force OT.  Both Ally Yamada and Jane Loo contributed 15 points apiece. 

The Pioneers used a 5-0 scoring spurt to take a 12-8 lead at the 3:12 mark of the opening quarter as Loo drilled a triple and then delivered a steal and score for the visitors.  After Finney answered with a wing three, Smith closed out the period on a 6-2 burst to own an 18-13 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
 
Another inside finish from Loo at 7:53 allowed the Pioneers to lead 20-17, but a pull up jumper by Jaelen Daubon (Hyde Park, N.Y.) would kickstart a 15-0 scoring spree by the Pride over a 4:03 span as Springfield's lead ballooned to 32-20 following a leak-out finish by Natalie Lucas (Madison, Conn.).  Springfield would shoot 6-for-6 in the run, getting contributions from five players. With 2:36 left in the half, Ruffner connected on a turnaround jumper to make it a 34-27 ballgame, but Vinton answered with back-to-back layups.  Springfield would take a 41-28 lead into the halftime break thanks to Amanda Leary (Westbury, N.Y.) pulling up for a deep three at the horn, capping off a quarter where the Pride outscored Smith by a 28-10 margin and shot 11-of-13 (85%).

A driving layup from Leary at the 8:00 minute mark allowed the Pride to go up 47-35, only to have Smith pour on an 8-0 burst, including seven points from Ruffner, to trim the lead to 47-43 with 2:47 on the clock. The Pride would push its lead back to 53-45 on back-to-back scores from Daubon, but Ruffner finished in the lane inside the final 30 seconds to make ita  53-47 game heading into the fourth. 

Vinton drilled a step back jumper with just over six minutes left in regulation to help Springfield regain a double-digit lead at 59-49.  However, the Pride missed its next six shots and a pair of free throws before a crafty finish from Yamada with 1:52 on the clock knotted the game up at 59.  Vinton would be fouled with five seconds left, and after drilling both freebies, Smith called consecutive timeouts to set up a final play.  Ruffner came up in a big spot, drilling a step back, fadeaway jumper on the baseline as the horn sounded to send the game to an extra session.  

Smith would gain a 67-63 lead with under a minute to play, but Vinton would knock down four free throws, including a pair with 20 seconds left to tie things up.  Ruffner was unable to pull off a game-winning shot in the waning seconds as the teams headed into a second overtime.  

Leary came up with Springfield's first field goal in over 15 minutes when she knocked down a step back with 1:16 on the clock to tie the game up at 69, but Yamada would convert a three-point play the next time down to put the visitors up for good.  Vinton cashed in on two from the line to make it a one point game, and after Smith was unable to convert on its next possession, Springfield had a chance to win the game, but a turnover in the final seconds sealed the contest. 

Springfield will play again on Wednesday night in a showdown with Babson at 6 pm. 

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