Babson Park, Mass. – January 17, 2026 – A three pointer by Emily Flynn with four seconds remaining in the game lifted Babson College over the Springfield College women's basketball team, 64-63, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener on Saturday afternoon in Staake Gymnasium.

Both teams see their records move to 9-6 this season with Babson going to 1-0 in league play and Springfield falling to 0-1 in the NEWMAC standings.

Stefany Padula (Franklin, Mass.) led Springfield with 17 points on a 5-for-5 effort from behind the arc and also added four rebounds to her stat line. Natalie Lucas (Madison, Conn.) registered 14 points, two steals and two rebounds, while Claire Finney (Haverhill, Mass.) notched 11 points, five assists, four rebounds and three steals. Flynn guided Babson with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal.

Tied at 59 with just over a minute to play in regulation, Padula drained a three off a feed from Finney to push Springfield ahead 62-59 before Alessa Mendoza pulled Babson within one as she finished a layup out of a timeout. Amanda Leary (Westbury, N.Y.) was fouled and headed to the line where she only hit the front end of the two shots leaving the hosts 21 seconds to put a play together. After advancing the ball, Mendoza connected with Flynn, who buried what proved to be the game winning basket. Springfield was left four seconds to look for a game winner of its own, but Leary's attempt after driving to the basket fell just short as time expired.

Out of halftime, Babson built its lead to as many as seven in the third at 47-40 before an early run in the fourth – this time a spurt of 12-5 – that featured treys by both Finney and Padula knotted the score at 55.

After a slow start that saw both teams combine to shoot just 1-for-17 over the first five minutes of the game, a three by Leary pushed Springfield ahead 8-3 with 3:55 to play in the opening quarter. Padula drove in for a layup and then drilled a corner three of her own as Springfield took an eventual 13-7 advantage through ten minutes of play.

Babson came out fast in the second as a pair of long range buckets from Chloe Perreault and Emily Flynn evened the score at 13 before a layup in transition by Mendoza, who completed the and-one play gave the hosts its first lead of the contest at 16-13. Lucas put Springfield back in front minutes later which ignited an 8-2 spurt as Lucas tallied six points in the run forcing Babson to call a timeout with the Pride ahead 21-18. The two teams traded points over the final minutes of the half as the score stood even at 27 at the break.

Springfield will head to Salve Regina University on Wednesday at 7:00 pm for its second NEWMAC clash of the season.

Sign up for free today to receive the latest news about your favorite Springfield College Athletics program directly to your email here.

For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Be sure to tune into all Springfield College Athletic events by subscribing to FloSports.