The Pioneers have the league's highest-scoring offense at 70.4 points per game and have been led by juniors
Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, Ga./The Lawrenceville School) and
Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary). Guest-Pritchett has averaged a team-high and league-best 15.4 points per game on 62.3 percent shooting which ranks second in all of Division III. Her 10.3 rpg rank third in the NEWMAC. Guest-Pritchett joined the Smith basketball 1,000-point club on January 22 in a win over Middlebury and currently sits in seventh-place all-time with 1,121 points.
A starter in all 25 games for the Pioneers, Bondi is second in the conference, scoring 13.6 points per contest and is always a threat from behind-the-arc, shooting 42.7 from three-point range. In addition, the Burnaby, BC native dishes out 2.7 assists and grabs 3.4 rebounds per game. Bondi has totaled a team-high 44 treys this season and scored a career-high 25 points in a win against Babson this season.
Seniors
Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius College Prepatory) and
Meghan Holland (Atherton, Calif./Sacred Heart Prepatory) have both been major contributors for the Pioneers this season. Marquez averages 9.5 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per contest, while Holland checks in at 5.7 points, 3.9 rebounds, and a team-high 3.5 assists per game. Marquez's career-high came in Smith's 68-48 win over Springfield this season, while Holland dished out a career-best 10 assists in a victory at Coast Guard.
Head coach
Lynn Hersey has received valuable minutes off the bench from senior forward
Samantha Alakai (Pukalani, Hawaii/Punahou School). The 2015 NEWMAC Rookie of the Year is averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and is shooting 44.4 percent from beyond-the-arc.
All-time in the NEWMAC tournament, Smith is 5-6, advancing to the championship game in 2011, 2012, and 2014. Smith's only NCAA appearance came in 2013 when the Pioneers stunned No. 8 Southern Maine in the opening round before suffering a loss to No. 25 Ithaca.
The No. 5 seeded MIT basketball team defeated No. 4 Springfield College, 66-55, Wednesday evening in the quarterfinals of the NEWMAC Tournament. With the win, the Engineers secured a spot in the semifinals for the fifth time in program history and first since 2003. Neither team has won a NEWMAC Championship.
Last season, Smith upset MIT in the quarterfinals before falling to eventual champion Babson in the semis.
Ticket Information:
Adults $5
Seniors $3
Students $1
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
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