Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--The Smith College basketball team inched closer to locking up the No. 3 seed in the upcoming New England Women and Mens Athletic Conference tournament with a 46-35 win over Springfield College on Wednesday night.

Smith won their fifth consecutive game to improve to 14-9 overall and 11-6 in NEWMAC play.  Springfield is also 11-6 in NEWMAC competition, but Smith holds the edge due to sweeping the season series against the Pride.  A win in the regular season finale against MIT will see Smith claim the No. 3 seed in the NEWMAC postseason tournament, while a loss combined with a Springfield win over Wellesley will see the Pride earn the No. 3 position.

After a back-and-forth start, the Pioneers seized control of the opening half as they opened up a 21-7 lead at the 5:21 mark after freshman guard Marissa Munoz-Ruiz (Fairfield, Calif./Justin-Siena) beat the shot clock with a jumper in the paint. However, despite their shooting woes, Springfield mounted a 9-2 run over the remainder of the half to make it a 23-16 contest after 20 minutes of play. Slattery tallied six points in the burst for the Pride.

In the second half, Smith took leads of nine points twice early on -- 25-16 and 27-18, the latter with 17:59 remaining. But SC then put on its best run of the night, outscoring the Pioneers 14-4 over the next 9 1/2 minutes. When Murphy made the second of two free throws with 8:27 left, SC took its one and only lead of the entire night at 32-31. SC, however, was destined to score only three more points, all from the free throw line. A lay-up by Emily Walker with 11:31 left proved to be SC's last field goal. A free throw by Walker with 3:48 left was SC's last point of the night, and that made it Smith 40, SC 35 at the time.

It was a lay-up by Ashani Petrizzi (Deerfield, Mass./Greenfield) with 8:05 left that gave Smith a 33-32 lead, a lead it would never relinquish.

After all was said and done, both teams shot very poorly for the game. In a winning effort, Smith shot .262 from the floor (16-of-61), while SC shot .222 (12-of-54). From 3-point range, SC made just 2-of-19 (.105), while Smith made 2-of-9 (.222). In the last game SC played, it made 12-of-22 from beyond the arc (.545). The Pioneers outrebounded the Pride, 53-37, in a game where there were many rebounds to be had.

Springfield committed 18 turnovers, including 11 in the opening half, while Smith committed 19 turnovers.

Lizzy BelBruno (Hanover, N.H./Hanover) and Devon Quattrocchi (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) led Smith with 12 points apiece, while Petrizzi had nine points and nine rebounds. 

Smith will wrap up their regular season with a trip to MIT on Saturday, February 19 at 1 p.m.  In the first match up between the teams, Libby Dutton (Deering, N.H./Hillsboro-Deering) poured in 14 points, knocking down three triples off the bench in a 54-38 Smith win.

(Parts of this story courtesy Springfield College sports information)