NORTHAMPTON, Mass.--The Smith College basketball team (5-1, 3-0 NEWMAC) can get off to the best league start in school history with a win over the United States Coast Guard Academy (4-3, 2-1 NEWMAC) on Thursday evening.  The Bears lead the all-time series 19-15, but Smith has won the last six meetings.

Last Meeting: Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth), Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill), and Maddie Page (Arvada, Colo./Jefferson Acad.) each scored 12 points as the Pioneers cruised to a 73-51 win over Coast Guard on February 4, 2012.  The Pioneers led 41-20 at halftime, and forced 24 turnovers.  

Smith Overview: The Pioneers led by as many as 38 points in a 73-56 win over Springfield College on Tuesday night, forcing 28 turnovers and limiting the Pride to three field goals in the first 10 minutes of the game.  Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) set a new school record with nine steals, and poured in a career high 19 points.  Devon Quattrocchi (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) also hit a career high with 18 points, whle adding six assists and five rebounds.

Coast Guard Overview: Under the guidance of first year coach Alex Ivansheck, the Bears have won as many league games this year as in the last two years.  Coast Guard edged past MIT 36-32 in a low-scoring contest on Tuesday night, despite shooting 14-for-46 in the game.

Smith Player to Watch: Quattrocchi is the only player to score in double-figures in every game so far this season for Smith.

Coast Guard Player to Watch: Meghan Fornaro is averaging 14.3 points per game this season, including 21 points in a loss at Framingham State earlier this year.

Did you know?  Amanda Zakoske (Jacksonville, Fla./The Bolles School) has started 63 consecutive games.