Springfield, Mass. -Smith's hot shooting propelled the Pioneers to a 79-61 victory over Springfield Collegein New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) playon Wednesdayevening in Blake Arena. The 79 points were the most allowed by the Pride this season.

Springfield dropped its second-straight outing to fall to 7-4, 2-1 in league play, while the Pioneers improved to 4-6, 1-2.

The Pioneers had five players with at least nine points, led by Meghan Holland (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prepatory)who netted 16 points. Both Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Preparatory) (San Francisco, Calif.) and Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, GA/The Lawrenceville School) added 15 points, with Guest-Pritchett hauling in a game-high 11 boards. Smith finished the night with a 43-22 edge on the glass, shot 31-for-57 (54.4%), and knocked down seven of 15 bids from downtown.

Heather King tied a career high with 17 points to go along with four boards and four assists, while Lexi Windwerchipped in 13 points for the Pride.Heather Lewis produced 10 points, and Danielle Racettefilled her stat sheet with seven points, five assists, and four steals.

After an inside bucket from Emily Ginsput Springfield ahead 8-6 with3:45left in the opening quarter, the Pioneers responded with an 8-0 run, capped off by a corner jumper by Jade Chihara (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna)to give Smith a 14-8 lead. The Pioneers held a 16-10 lead after 10 minutes of action, despite turning the ball over eight times.

The visitors lead ballooned to 20-10 just 58 seconds into the second stanza as the Pride burned an early timeout. Springfield would climb back into the contest as it heated up from beyond the arc, connecting on three-straight trips down the floor from downtown, including a pair from Windwer, to even the contest at 28 apiece with1:51on the clock. However, Smith closed out the quarter scoring six of the game's final seven points to hold a 34-29 cushion at the break. In the opening 20 minutes of play, Smith shot 56% from the floor and received 20 of its 34 points from players off the bench.

Consecutive triples by Holland pushed Smith's advantage to 46-33 just under two minutes into the second half, but Springfield answered back with an 8-0 run, using a Windwer runner off the glass to make it 50-45. However, Marquez took over for the visitors, pouring in seven points to push Smith's lead back to 57-48 to close out the third.

Springfield would get as close as seven on another Windwer three at the7:29mark, but Springfield had no answer defensively for Smith, as the Pioneers finished with 55 second-half points to cruise to an 18-point victory.

The Pioneerswill continue league playon Saturdaywhen it travels to play Babson for a 1:00 pmcontest.

(Recap courtesy Springfield Athletics)