Box Score COLUMBUS, OH - The No. 14 Smith College basketball team ended a historic season with a 51-41 loss to No. 1 NYU in the NCAA Division III National Championship Game Saturday evening inside the Capital Center Performance Arena. Playing in its first-ever national title game, Smith concludes the season with a 30-4 record. The Violets went undefeated at 31-0. 

"I'm obviously super proud of our team's effort tonight. I thought we battled, especially on the defensive end. We out-rebounded them and did a good job on some of their key players. I thought our defensive game plan was pretty solid. On that side of the ball I thought we really executed well and gave ourselves a chance to make plays down the stretch and see if we could close the gap in the fourth. 

"Ultimately it was a really good team effort on that end of the ball," Hersey added. "We showed why we are here defensively. Offensively we had some looks that we just didn't get the right touch on. The sagging on Jessie [Ruffner], working through that throughout the game... we kept our composure, tried to do different things to get a look down the stretch. Sofia [Rosa] played extremely well inside. We fell a few buckets and a few players here or there short. I'm proud of our crew for buying in and putting that effort forward tonight. We battled for 40 minutes." 

By the Numbers

• Sofia Rosa (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury) led the way with 19 points, 10 rebounds, two steals, and a block
• Jessie Ruffner (Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin) finished with 10 points and five boards and ends her historic career fourth on Smith's all-time scoring list with 1,403 career points
• Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, CA/Fairmont Prep Academy) added eight points and four assists
• The Pioneers shot 31.7% (19-of-60) from the floor, 20% (2-of-10) from 3-point range, and 33.3% (1-of-3) from the free throw line
• Smith's stout defense held NYU to a season low 31.7% (19-of-54) shooting from the field, 25% (2-of-8) from behind the arc, and 68.8% from the free throw line
• Smith owned a 41-38 advantage on the boards

Game Highlights

• NYU jumped ahead 8-0 in the first four minutes before Rosa drained Smith's first bucket of the game. Trailing 11-2, Smith closed the quarter on an 8-4 run to come within 15-10 after the first.
• The Pioneers got back into rhythm in the second starting with a Rosa layup followed by a Yamada 3-pointer to tie the game at 15-15. Smith went scoreless for nearly six minutes before Yamada's jumper made it 23-17 and back-to-back buckets from Rosa had Smith trailing 23-21 at halftime. 
• Smith kept it tight throughout the third as Rosa scored on back-to-back possessions that cut the Violets' lead to 29-26 with 4:28 to go. NYU drained a three followed by a fastbreak layup to go up 34-26 and held on for a 39-32 edge after three quarters.
• Both teams went scoreless for nearly four minutes in the fourth until Rosa hit a jumper with 6:22 to go. After Rosa cut the deficit to 41-36 with 4:52 on the clock, Smith was unable to get the offense going as its next basket came with 1:03 remaining and NYU converted free throws down the stretch for the victory.

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.