NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - The Smith College basketball team outscored Wheaton 24-9 in the fourth quarter en route to a 79-59 victory in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action Saturday afternoon at Ainsworth Gymnasium. Prior to the game, Smith honored its seven seniors Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary), Stephanie Foukaris (Nicosia, Cyprus/Pascal English School Nicosia), Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, Ga./The Lawrenceville School), Sydney Koh (Seattle, Wash./Lakeside), Katy McClellan (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area), Emma Seymour (Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt), and Nikkiah Snoddy (Stow, Mass./Nashoba Regional). 

Smith, which closes the regular season at 20-5 overall and 13-3 in league play, will be no worse than the second seed when the conference tournament pairings are announced later tonight. Wheaton drops to 9-16 on the year and 4-12 in the NEWMAC with the loss. With the victory, Smith has won a program-best 10 consecutive games and head coach Lynn Hersey picks up career win 200 and ties the program record for wins with 188.

SMITH HIGHLIGHTS

• Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary) poured in a game-best 26 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and four steals.
• Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, Ga./The Lawrenceville School) became Smith's all-time leading scorer with her 21 points and corralled a game-best 19 boards.
• Katy McClellan (Palmyra, Pa./Palmyra Area) chipped in 15 points and added four assists.

WHEATON HIGHLIGHTS

• Mikayla Pucci finished with 19 points and 11 boards.
• Sara McLeman added eight points, one rebound and one assist.
• Abby Hamilton scored seven points to go along with five boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED
A three-pointer from Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, BC, Can./Notre Dame Secondary) at the 5:48 mark gave Smith a 10-point lead and the advantage grew to as large as 15 points on Guest-Pritchett's layup with 3:07 remaining in the first. Wheaton chipped away and was able to narrow the game to 24-15 at the end of the first quarter.

Hannah Peterson's trey capped a comeback from the visitors as the game was tied at 28 with 4:58 remaining in the period. Mia Len gave the Lyons their only lead of the game, 31-28, but the Pioneers were able to hold a one point lead at halftime, 35-34.

Smith began to pull away as two free throws from Bondi put the home squad ahead 53-43 with 3:48 left in the quarter.

Foukaris and Bondi combined to score 13 of Smith's 24 points in the fourth quarter as the Pioneer defense limited Wheaton to only nine points. 


About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a 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.