Box Score NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - The Smith College basketball team erased an 11 point deficit en route to their 74-66 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win over Clark University in women's basketball action Saturday afternoon. 

Prior to the contest, Smith celebrated Senior Day by honoring Tia Karapoulios (Cypress, Calif./Cypress) and Shannon Saywell (Groton, Mass./Lawrence Acad.), for their four years of service, leadership, and dedication to the Smith basketball program.

With the win, the Pioneers improve to 11-14 overall and 7-9 in conference play, while the Cougars dip to 6-19, 3-13 in NEWMAC. 

First-year forward Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, GA/The Lawrenceville School) scored a game-high 22 points, added 15 rebounds and three steals off the bench for Smith. Sophomore guard Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Preparatory) produced 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while dishing out five assists. Sophomore Samantha Alakai (Pukalani, Hawaii/Punahou School) finished with nine points and three rebounds, while Jade Chihara (Lahaina, Hawaii/Lahainaluna) added seven points, two assists and two rebounds. 

Sam O'Gara and Ogechi Ezemma each finished with 13 points for the Cougars. O'Gara added four assists, three boards and two steals, while Ezemma hauled in 13 rebounds to record the double-double. Kacey Legare added 10 points, four rebounds and three steals, while Sami Dokus came off the bench to finish with 12 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting and seven boards.

Clark jumped out to a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter as the Cougars ended the period on a 7-0 run. Sami Dokus' jumper gave the viisitors a 21-8 edge 1:16 into the second, but the Pioneers regrouped and closed out the half on a 16-1 run powered by Alakai's nine points to go into halftime leading 24-22.

Smith went on to outscore Clark 27-11 in the third quarter to open up a 51-33 lead heading into the fourth. Clark would not go away as a three-pointer from Cori Ouellette cut the deficit to 10 (64-54) with 4:02 remaining in the fourth quarter and Dokus scored five-straight points to pull the Cougars within eight (67-59) with 2:16 left to play.  A three-pointer by Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Preparatory) officially put the game out of reach with 1:00 on the clock and the Pioneers leading 72-60. 

Clark earned a 42-39 advantage on the glass in the contest, while the Pioneers shot 42.4 percent from the field to just 34.9 percent for the Cougars. 

The Pioneers will be riding a season-high four-game win streak as they travel to WPI on Wednesday for the first round of the NEWMAC playoffs.