BABSON PARK, Mass.—Senior Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary) scored a career-high 32 points and knocked down 10 of Smith College's 18 three-pointers as the Pioneers defeated Babson College, 86-62, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Staake Gymnasium.
 
Smith improves to 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the NEWMAC, while Babson, which had its two-game winning streak snapped, slips to 2-2 overall and 1-1 in league play.

SMITH HIGHLIGHTS

• Bondi went 10-of-14 from beyond the arc, setting a new school record for three-pointers made in a game, and dished out four assists.
• First-year Dashelle Gleissner (Los Angeles, Calif./Serra) finished with a career-high 16 points and was 4-of-5 from three-point range.
• Senior Stephanie Foukaris (Nicosia, Cyprus/Pascal English School Nicosia) added a career-best 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from long distance.
• First-year Katelyn Pickunka (Westhampton, Mass./Hampshire) came off the bench to finish with eight points and six rebounds.

BABSON HIGHLIGHTS

• Sophomore Nicole Hiller scored 13 points, all in the second half, to go along with six rebounds.
• Senior Bianca Tomassini added 11 points five boards to lead the Beavers.
• Classmate Tea Spellacy chipped in with nine points in the loss.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Bondi and Foukaris combined to make seven three-pointers while scoring 22 points as Smith went 8-of-8 from beyond the arc on the way to building a 31-16 after one quarter. Junior Emily Bonifacic scored to cut the Babson deficit back to 15 four minutes into the second, but the Pioneers followed with a 10-2 burst capped off by back-to-back three-pointers from Bondi and Gleissner to extend their advantage back to 46-23 with under three minutes to go in the stanza.
 
Smith followed a triple by Spellacy with a 12-0 run that made it 60-30 on a free throw by Bondi 5:21 into the third quarter. The Green and trailed by as many as 31 in the period before using a 21-10 run that included eight points from Hiller, six points from sophomore Katie Jones and five from Tomassini to pull within 73-53 with 6:31 to go in the fourth.
 
It was as close as Babson would get however as senior Katy McClellan (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area) (Palmyra, Pa.) scored off a put back and Bondi drained consecutive three-pointers from the left corner to extend the margin back to 23 with under four minutes remaining.

GAME NOTES

• The Pioneers shot 52.5 percent for the game and a school record 72 percent (18-of-25) from beyond the arc.
• The 18 three-pointers by Smith bested the previous record of 13 set on January 10, 2013 against Clark
• Smith outscored Babson in the paint, 26-10, and limited the Beavers to just 33.3 percent shooting.
• The Pioneers improve to 12-39 all-time against Babson and have won two straight meetings.

UP NEXT
Smith continues conference action when it hosts Clark at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, December 5.



(Portions of this recap courtesy to Babson Athletics)

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