GAME INFORMATION
Score: Smith College 62, MIT 57
Records: Smith (14-4, 7-2); MIT (11-6, 7-3)
When: Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Location: Northampton, Mass.
Smith Starters: Bondi, Marquez, Holland, Guest-Pritchett, Barriscale
MIT Starters: Ngan, Yuan, V'Dovec, Holinski, Gallagher 

The Smith College basketball team remained undefeated at home this season with their 62-57 win over MIT Wednesday evening in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) at Ainsworth Gymnasium. With the victory, the Pioneers improve to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in league action, while the Engineers drop to 11-6, 7-3.

SMITH HIGHLIGHTS 

• Junior forward Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, Ga./The Lawrenceville School) scored a team-high 14 points to go along with six rebounds.
• Senior forward Samantha Alakai (Pukalani, Hawaii/Punahou School) poured in 13 points off the bench on 6-of-11 shooting.
• Senior guard Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prepatory) finished with 10 points and two boards.

MIT HIGHLIGHTS

• Kara Holinski knocked down four treys on her way to a game-high 16 points with four rebounds, and three assists.
• Kylie Gallagher shot 5-of-8 from the field for 12 points and hauled in four boards.
• Dolly Yuan and Taylor V'Dovec each added 11 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a back and forth affair to start the game as neither team held a lead larger than two throughout the first quarter. It was a balanced scoring attack for the Pioneers as five different players scored to give Smith the 10-8 lead going into the second stanza.

Leading 14-12 at the 7:45 mark, the Pioneers outscored the Engineers 20-9 the rest of the half. Smith's largest lead came with 21 seconds left in the half as Marquez knocked down a baseline jumper to make the score 34-21 at the break. 

The Engineers opened the third quarter with a three-pointer just nine seconds in from Kara Holinski and chipped away at the Pioneers lead to come within six points (40-34) on Kristen Ngan's three-pointer with 4:37 left in the period. Back-to-back buckets from Alakai and Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary) extended the lead to 10 points for the home squad but a three-pointer at the buzzer from Holinski cut the lead to five (48-43) going into the fourth quarter.

After a Marquez jumper to open the quarter, MIT went on a 5-0 run to make the score 50-48 at the 8:37 mark. A 6-0 Smith run gave them a 58-50 lead with 4:42 remaining in the game but MIT would still stay in striking distance. Bondi's three-pointer with 2:26 on the clock would eventually ice the game despite a 4-0 run from the Engineers in the final 1:30.
 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Field Goals: SMI  25-60 / MIT 21-52
• 3-Point FG: SMI  3-12 / MIT 6-16
• Free Throw: SMI 9-10 / MIT 9-15
• Points off Turnovers: SMI 6 / MIT 17

GAME NOTES

• Smith held a 41-26 advantage in rebounds. 
• The Pioneers improve to 31-16 all-time against the Engineers.
• Smith remains undefeated at home in 2017-18 and have won 18 consecutive games at Ainsworth Gymnasium.

UP NEXT
The Pioneers return to action Saturday, January 27 when they host Wheaton College at 2:00 p.m.



About Smith Athletics: Smith College is an NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.