February 10, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Connecticut College Defeats Smith, 68-62

Northampton, MA: First year Jennifer Shinall (Redding Ridge, CT) tallied a game high 20 points with 12 steals to lead the Camels of Connecticut College to their 68-62 defeat of Smith College in a non-conference contest this evening in Northampton, Massachusetts. With the loss, the Pioneers fell to 8-13 overall while Connecticut College improved to 8-14 overall.

The Camels built an early seven point lead (14-7) in the opening five minutes of play shooting 7-for-11 (.636) and extended the lead to ten points (22-12) with 8:26 remaining. Over the remaining minutes of the first half, Smith's Berit Schelde (Holstebro, Denmark) scored six of her team high 16 points while teammate Courtney Parker (Ocean City, MD) added four and point guard Sarah Posnak (Miami, FL) tallied five.  With just seven seconds remaining in the half, sophomore Anna Veltri (West Milford, NJ) converted two free throws to bring Smith within two at the half, 31-29.

Jacqueline Shinall (Redding Ridge, CT) opened the second half with a deuce to give the Camels a 33-29 lead but back-to-back baskets by Pioneer senior captain Meredith Murelli (Litchfield, CT) tied the game at 33. Over the next seven minutes, Connecticut again extended its lead to eight (50-42) but the Pioneers put together a 8-0 run to get within two once again (50-48) with 7:53 remaining. The Camels withstood the run, however, and outscored Smith 18-14 in the final minutes to take the 68-62 victory.

The Camels had four players in double figures.  Jennifer Shinall had 20 points, Jacqueline Shinall and Amy Towne (Stamford, CT) each tallied 11 and Emily Cummings (Yorktown Heights, NY) added 10.

Schelde scored 16 for Smith while Jessica Welk (Arlington, WA) added 10.  Murelli and Parker each had 10 rebounds in the loss for the Pioneers.