Women's Basketball vs. MIT
Saturday, January 23 - 2 p.m.
Ainsworth Gymnasium - Northampton, Mass.
Live Stats        Video

Last Meeting
Mandy Castro (San Diego, Calif./Poway) chipped in 12 points and Samantha Alakai (Pukalani, Hawaii/Punahou School) added 10 points and three rebounds in a 70-52 loss to MIT on January 10, 2015. The Engineers made a season-best 52.8 percent of their attempts from the field and snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Pioneers. 

The Series
In a series that dates back to the 1975 season, this is the 43rd meeting between these two schools. Smith leads 30-12 and is 17-4 playing at home. 

The Engineers
MIT (12-4, 7-1) pushed its win-streak to six games after their 66-54 triumph over Wesleyan University on Tuesday evening. In that game, freshman Kara Holinski finished with a game-high 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting, which marked the 14th game of the season in which Holinski scored in double-digits. Holinski was named NEWMAC Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 13.3 points nad 6.0 rebounds in three wins. Sabrina Drammis (15.1 PPG) and Holinski (15.0 PPG) are ranked third and fourth in scoring in the NEWMAC. Maya Ramachandran is shooting 66.7 percent from the field and Holinski is connecting on 55.1 percent from behind the arc. The Engineers average 64.8 points per game and are shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 35.8 percent from 3-point range. MIT was picked to finish fourth in the preseason coaches' poll.

The Pioneers
Smith (7-9, 4-4 NEWMAC) won consecutive NEWMAC games for the first time this season thanks to their 80-31 dominating performance over Mount Holyoke Wednesday evening. In that game, first-year forward Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, GA/The Lawrenceville School) finished in double figures for the fifth consecutive game to lead the Pioneers with 16 points on 8-of-11 shooting. First-year guard Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary) poured in 15 points, including three treys, while junior guard Jade Chihara (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) added seven points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Guest-Pritchett leads the NEWMAC with 9.7 rebounds per game and is fifth in field goal percentage (50.0%), while Bondi (35.2%) is third in the conference in three-point shooting percentage. Guest-Pritchett was named the New England Women's Basketball Association (NEWBA) Rookie of the Week on Monday. The Pioneers score 64.1 points per game and are shooting 37.8 percent from the field and 30.4 from behind the arc. Smith was voted to finish fifth in the preseason coaches' poll. 

Next Up
Smith hits the road for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at Coast Guard on Wednesday, January 27th. 

     2015-16 Women's Basketball Standings

School	Conference	Overall
WPI	7-0	15-1
MIT	7-1	12-4
Babson	7-1	11-5
Coast Guard	5-2	8-7
Springfield	5-3	10-6
Smith	4-4	7-9
Wheaton	4-4	11-6
Emerson	3-6	6-10
Wellesley	1-7	3-12
Clark	1-8	3-14
Mount Holyoke	0-8	0-16

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