January 22, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Springfield Defeats Smith Basketball, 65-58

Northampton, MA: Anna Veltri (West Milford, NJ), Jessica Welk (Arlington, WA) and Berit Schelde (Holstebro, Denmark) combined for 45 points last night in the Pioneers' 65-58 loss to New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) rival Springfield College. With the victory, the Pride improved to 9-7 overall and 4-0 in the conference while Smith dropped to 7-8 overall and 1-4 in league action.

The first half of play was back and forth with nine ties and five lead changes.  Welk led Smith with 11 of her team high 18 points in the first period while Lisa Marie Vuono (Lyndhurst, NJ) pulled down 6 of her team high 12 rebounds. The game was last tied at 27 at the 2:09 mark but three free throws over the remaining minutes gave the Pride a 30-27 lead at the break. 

Springfield built an eight-point lead at 41-33 in the opening six minutes of the second half but Smith fought back and a layup by Schelde with 8:10 left gave the Pioneers a 44-43 lead. Seven lead changes and five ties occurred over the next six minutes with the last tie at 57-57 with 2:02 remaining. The Pride then outscored Smith 8-1 to take the victory and remain undefeated in NEWMAC competition.

Corey Finch (Hanover, PA) tallied a game high 20 points with 12 rebounds to lead Springfield while Rachelle Walker (Lee, MA) added 18 points.  Welk led Smith with 18 points followed by Veltri with 15 and Schelde with a dozen.

The Pioneers next face NEWMAC rival Babson College on Saturday, January 24 at 1 pm at Babson Park, Massachusetts.