Women's Basketball at Middlebury
Tuesday, January 19 - 5 p.m.
Pepin Gymnasium - Middlebury, Vt.
Live Stats        Video

Last Meeting
The Pioneers avenged an early season loss, defeating the Panthers, 65-59 on January 20, 2015 in Northampton. Samantha Alakai (Pukalani, Hawaii/Punahou School) paced the hosts with a team-high 15 points, six rebounds, one block and one steal, while Meghan Holland (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prepatory) added 13 points, six boards and six assists. Fellow classmate Amanda Barriscale (Mill Valley, Calif./Tamalpais) grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. 
 
The Series
This is the seventh meeting in a series that began in 2006. The Pioneers lead 4-2 and split the two games last season. 

The Panthers
Middlebury (9-5, 2-2 NESCAC) looks to get consecutive wins after their 61-56 victory at Bates Saturday afternoon. In that game, the Panthers outscored their opponent 32-16 in the paint and held off a fourth-quarter rally. All five Middlebury starters scored between nine and 11 points in the win. Catherine Harrison grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds to go with her nine points. Rookie Colleen Caveney averaged 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game over three contests last week while shooting .529 from the field. Sophomroe guard Sarah Kaufman is third in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.7 points per game, while Harrison is second in the NESCAC in rebounds per game (11.9) and is shooting 53.5 percent from the field. The Panthers average 62.4 points per game and are shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from 3-point range. 

The Pioneers
Smith (6-8, 3-4 NEWMAC) aims to win back-to-back games for the first time this season after their 77-74 triumph over Wheaton Saturday. In that game, first-year forward Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, GA/The Lawrenceville School) recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary) and Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Preparatory) also finished in double figures with 16 and 12 points, respectively. Guest-Pritchett leads the NEWMAC with 9.6 rebounds per game and is tied for sixth in field goal percentage (48.7%), while Samantha Alakai (Pukalani, Hawaii/Punahou School) (37.8%) and Bondi (35.6%) are both ranked in the top-five of the league in 3-point shooting percentage. Guest-Pritchett was named New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) Rookie of the Week on Monday. The Pioneers score 63.4 points per game and are shooting 37.4 percent from the field and 30.3 percent from behind the arc. 

Next Up
Smith returns to NEWMAC play when the Pioneers host Mount Holyoke College Wednesday at 7 p.m.

         2015-16 NESCAC Women's Basketball Standings

School	Conference	Overall
Amherst	3-0	15-0
Tufts	4-0	13-2
Connecticut College	3-1	13-2
Bowdoin	2-1	12-4
Colby	2-1	9-6
Middlebury	2-2	9-5
Bates	1-3	5-10
Hamilton	1-3	5-10
Wesleyan	1-3	7-7
Williams	1-3	11-4
Trinity	0-3	9-4

        2015-16 NEWMAC Women's Basketball Standings

School	Conference	Overall
WPI	7-0	15-1
MIT	7-1	11-4
Babson	6-1	10-5
Coast Guard	5-2	8-6
Springfield	4-3	9-6
Smith	3-4	6-8
Wheaton	3-4	10-6
Emerson	3-5	5-9
Wellesley	1-6	3-11
Clark	1-7	3-13
Mount Holyoke	0-7	0-15

 
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