January 26, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carolel Grills
(413) 585-2703

Babson Defeats Smith 60-46

Northampton, MA: The Pioneers fell 60-46 to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Babson College this afternoon in Northampton. With the victory, the Beavers improved to 8-9 overall and 3-2 in conference competiton while Smith fell to 3-12 overall and 1-5 in the NEWMAC.

The Pioneers built an early 6-0 lead in the opening four minutes of the game on shots by Meredith Murelli (Litchfield, CT), Berit Schelde (Holstebro, Denmark) and Laura Miller (Minneapolis, MN) but Babson tied it at 7 on hoops by Amanda Grammel (Leominster, MA), Caitlin Boulier (Wolcott, CT) and Nicole McManus (Baldwinsville, NY). Smith increased its lead by three but the Beavers chipped away and tied the game again at 16 and then outscored the Pioneers 11-0 and went into halftime with a 30-22 advantage.

In the opening ten minutes of the second half, Babson outscored Smith 20-11 that gave them a 19 point lead (50-31). The Pioneers closed the gap to a dozen but Babson's lead was too much for them to overcome.

Schelde tallied a team high 18 points in the loss for Smith. Linsey Poulson (Leominster, MA) had a double double for Babson with 18 points and 10 rebounds while teammates Boulier and Caitlin Fenn (Niantic, CT) added 16 and 10 respectively.  McManus pulled down a game high 14 rebounds.  

The Pioneers will host valley and NEWMAC rival Mount Holyoke College on Wednesday, January 30th at 7 p.m.