NORTHAMPTON - The Smith College basketball team returned to the court with an 88-67 victory over Bridgewater State in the opening game of the Smith Holiday Classic Friday afternoon in Ainsworth Gymnasium. 

The 11th-ranked Pioneers won its third-straight game to improve to 9-1 on the season while handing Bridgewater State a loss to drop to 7-4.

Game Highlights

• Smith made its first seven shots of the game to take a 14-7 lead at the 6:01 mark which forced a BSU timeout
• An 11-0 run that ended with an Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, Calif./Fairmont Prep Academy) three-pointer put Smith up 25-11 but a trey by Caroline Tripp at the buzzer closed the gap to 25-19 after the first
• The Bears were able to come within four before the Pioneers used a 16-2 run to take a 46-28 advantage midway through the second quarter. Morgan Morrison (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Country Day) was dominant in the paint, totaling eight points during Smith's run
• Tripp again beat the clock with a three-pointer to close out the half with the Pioneers ahead 47-31
• Smith continued to build its lead in the third as Katelyn Pickunka's (Westhampton, Mass./Hampshire) jumper gave the Pioneers its largest lead of the game at 22 (57-35)
• Yamada would drill a three at the buzzer to go up 72-51 heading into the final period
• The two squads played an even fourth quarter as Smith cruised to the 88-67 win

Inside the Numbers

• Pickunka notched her fifth double-double of the year, finishing with 22 points on 9-of-11 shooting and 10 rebounds
• Morrison also netted 22 points to go along with nine boards and three blocks
• Jane Loo (Saratoga, CA/Saratoga) contributed 10 points off the bench and Jessie Ruffner (Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin) dished out a game-high eight assists
• Smith shot 48.6% (35-of-72) from the field, 29.2% (7-of-24) from three-point range and 78.6% (11-of-14) from the free-throw line
• The Bears finished 25-of-67 (37.3%) from the floor, 38.5% (5-of-13) from three-point range and 6-of-10 from the free-throw line
• The Pioneers held advantages in rebounds (48-27), points in the paint (52-38) and bench points (24-19)

 

Up Next
Smith will host UMass Dartmouth Saturday at 3:00pm to close out the 2022 calendar year.

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.