BABSON PARK - The Smith College basketball team used a strong third quarter to surge past Babson College, 64-50, Wednesday evening in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. The Pioneers, who are ranked No. 12 in the latest WBCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, improve to 13-2 on the year and 2-0 in league play and have now won 36-straight games against conference opponents. Babson, which has dropped three straight games, sees its record drop to 6-10 overall and 0-2 in the NEWMAC.

Inside the Numbers

• Senior guard Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, CA/Fairmont Prep Academy) turned in a game-high 18 points and knocked down four 3-pointers
• Senior guard Jessie Ruffner (Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin) posted her fourth double-double of the year with 14 points and 12 rebounds
• First-year guard Hannah Martin (North Andover, MA/North Andover)g totaled 10 points, seven boards and three assists, while graduate student Sofia Rosa (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) finished with nine points and grabbed 10 rebounds
• Smith led the way in rebounds (41-34), points in the paint (30-28), and second chance points (9-7)
• The Pioneers shot 35.5% (22-of-62) from the field, 27.8% (5-of-18) from three-point range, and 78.9% (15-of-19) from the free throw line

Game Highlights

• Smith used a 6-0 run to earn an 8-2 cushion when Ruffner grabbed an offensive rebound and took it the length of the court for a layup at 5:48. After a layup by Babson at 2:24 made it 13-12 in favor of Smith, the two teams went scoreless for the rest of the period.
• Yamada canned a three-pointer to start the second and sophomore guard Selam Maher (Hopkins, MN/St. Louis Park) drilled another triple as Smith built a 21-14 advantage with 5:49 to go until halftime. Samantha Reale cut the Beavers' deficit to three with a bucket at the 3:39 mark and Chloe Perreault scored inside with 1:03 to go to get the hosts back within 25-20 at the break. 
• Babson cut its deficit to three on three occasions early in the third before Yamada started an extended 17-7 run with a three-pointer make it 32-26. She scored nine points in all during the spurt, which included a trifecta with 0:05 left in the stanza, to give the Pioneers a 46-31 lead. 
• Babson scored on back-to-back possessions to get the Beavers within nine with 8:34 remaining in the fourth. Down 12 after a pull-up jumper by Ruffner with 5:15 left, the Beavers knocked down a three-pointer and added a free throw to cut Babson's deficit to 51-43 with 3:46 remaining. 
• The hosts were unable to get any closer though, as Martin went 6-of-6 and scored eight points over the final 1:23 to put the game away. 

Up Next
Smith continues conference play with a road contest at Wheaton Saturday, January at 1:00pm. 

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 and Instagram.

(Portions of this recap courtesy to Babson Athletics)