January 23, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Springfield Defeats Smith 51-49

Northampton, MA: In a come-from-behind victory, the Pride of Springfield College defeated the Pioneers 51-49 in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest this evening in Northampton. With the win, Springfield improved to 8-7 overall and 3-1 in conference play while the Pioneers fell to 3-11 overall and 1-4 in the NEWMAC.

The team's exchanged baskets in the opening half with the lead changing nine times.  With just under four minutes remaining, the Pioneers outscored Springfield 4-0 to take a 26-21 lead into the half. Sophomore Berit Schelde (Holstebro, Denmark) who had a game high 16 points, scored 12 of them in the first half for Smith.

The Pioneers extended their lead to 29-21 on the opening play of the second half on a trey by Ashley Sutton (Greenfield, MA).  The Pride then took over and pulled within three on baskets by Tara McCarthy (Bristol, RI) and Corey Finch (Hanover, PA).  McCarthy then tied it up at 29 on a three-pointer at the 15 minute mark. Sutton and Schelde combined for the next five points of the game but the Pride again responded and tied it at 34 and took the lead on another 3-pointer by McCarthy.  Springfield went ahead by six with just under five minutes remaining but Smith closed the gap and took a 47-46 lead with four minutes left. The Pride then outscored the Pioneers 5-2 to take the two point victory.

McCarthy also tallied a game high 16 points for Springfield while Liz Brousseau (Franklin, MA) and Finch added 12 and 10 respectively. Suttton scored a dozen and had a game high 4 steals and teammate Meredith Murelli (Litchfield, CT) pulled down a game high 11 rebounds in the loss for Smith.

The Pioneers host Babson College on Saturday at 2 pm in another NEWMAC match-up.