Cambridge, Mass. - February 25, 2026 - The fifth-seeded Springfield College women's basketball team avenged a loss from last week to defeat fourth-seeded MIT in the opening round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Wednesday night, 64-50.
Springfield improves to 16-10 overall while MIT drops to 14-12.
Amanda Leary (Westbury, N.Y.) led Springfield with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists while Carrie Hess (Shrewsbury, Mass.) had 15 points. Claire Finney (Haverhill, Mass.) had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists as Madison Lopez (Bronx, N.Y.) had five rebounds and four steals.
Springfield shot 41.4-percent (23-for-56) from the floor while MIT shot 31.7-percent (19-for-60) as the Pride had 32 points in the paint and held a 37-31 edge off the glass.
The Pride took an early 12-2 lead through the first five minutes of the first quarter powered by six points from Hess. MIT had the final four points of the quarter to close the gap as Springfield led 17-8 going into the second quarter. Springfield shot 43.8-percent from the floor and had four more rebounds than the Engineers.
Both teams exchanged a few baskets to begin the quarter as Springfield led 23-12 but a 10-2 run from MIT saw the Engineers working on a comeback to make it a three-point game. The final two minutes only saw five total points between both teams as the Pride held on to the lead going into the halftime break, 30-24.
Springfield scored the first two baskets of the third quarter before MIT went on a 7-0 run to make it 35-31 and left the Pride scoreless for almost two minutes. It didn't affect the Pride as Springfield had an answer and went on a run themselves to outscore the Engineers 11-3 to end the quarter with a 12-point lead at 46-34.
The Engineers didn't let up in the fourth quarter, but the Pride shot a game-high 55.6-percent from the floor, grabbed five more rebounds than MIT and Leary and Ruth Boles (South Portland, Maine) combined for 12 points to power Springfield to the win, 64-50.
Springfield will head to top-seeded No.5/7 Smith on Friday at 7:00 pm for the semifinal round of the NEWMAC Tournament.
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