Box Score CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The Smith College basketball team set a new school record for consecutive wins with a 63-47 victory over Massachusetts Institute of Technology in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday night.  Smith has now won nine straight games, besting a streak first set by the 1989-90 squad and matched by the 2010-11 team.

Smith is now 11-1 overall, and 6-0 in league play, while MIT has a record of 6-6, with a 2-4 mark against league opponents. 

The first half was closely played until Smith strung together seven straight points which resulted in a 28-18 advantage at the 8:37 mark. Freshman Bethany Claps (Staten Island, N.Y./Staten Island Acad.) started the spurt with a layup while sophomore Alyssa Barrett (Berlin, Conn./Berlin) contributed the next five points. MIT responded by tallying 10 unanswered points to even the score with just under five minutes left in the half.
 
A defensive battle ensued during the next three minutes until Drummond drained a layup which ended a six-minute scoring drought for the Pioneers. Junior Sharon Hao knotted the game at 30 on a driving layup with 30 seconds to go, but sophomore Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) buried a three-pointer eight seconds before the buzzer sounded to give Smith a slight edge at halftime.
 
The Engineers tied the score at 33 on their first possession of the second half courtesy of a trey by Kordell; however, the Pioneers gradually generated a 14-5 run that resulted in a 47-38 lead at the 12:54 mark. Free throws by freshmen Maya Ramachandran and Sabrina Drammis along with a basket by junior Rachel Hunt narrowed MIT's gap to five (47-42) midway through the frame. This was as close as it would get as Smith outscored the hosts, 16-5, down the stretch.
 
Sophomore Alexxis Isaac posted eight points and three steals for the Engineers while Hao notched seven points and four rebounds. Drammis hauled in a game-high nine rebounds to go along with three steals while sophomore Michelle Battipaglia (Katonah, N.Y.) chipped in six rebounds.
 
Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth) led all players with 18 points.  Solis totaled 11 points, six assists, and four steals as senior Devon Quattrocchi (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) registered 10 points and five steals. Junior Sydney Parkmond (Waterbury, Conn./Chase Collegiate) racked up eight points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals while junior Marissa Munoz-Ruiz (Fairfield, Calif./Justin-Siena) and sophomore Lauren Weston (Florence, Mass./Northampton) both collected five rebounds.
 
As a team, MIT had the upper hand in rebounding (46-31) but Smith held an 18-7 advantage in steals and registered 22 points off turnovers.

The Pioneers will continue their road swing with a visit to Clark University on Thursday, January 10.  The game is scheduled for 5 p.m.  MIT will host No. 22 Babson at 8 p.m. on the same day.

(Parts of this story courtesy MIT)