|
| Photo by Emma Bynes, Springfield College athletics |
Springfield finished its regular season with a flourish on Saturday afternoon, as the Pride plowed past Emerson, 70-40, for head coach Naomi Graves' 600th career win.
The game itself did not have much drama.
Claire Finney gave Springfield a 3-0 lead 30 seconds into the game, and the Pride opened the game with a 10-0 run. Springfield pushed the lead to 19 midway through the third quarter with a 14-2 run capped by Kassidy Carrano's jumper and finished that period in front, 53-24. Amanda Leary paced Springfield with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists.
Graves improved her career record to 600-439 in 39 seasons, mostly as the head coach at Springfield where she's gone 532-356 over 33 seasons. Graves also won 68 games as the head coach at NEWMAC rival WPI before arriving at Springfield in 1991. Graves has led Springfield to the NCAA Tournament seven times, most recently in 2024. The Pride reached the Elite Eight in 2005 when they finished with a program-best 25 wins. Graves, who is the second-leading all-time scorer at Division I Rhode Island, is also a three-time NEWMAC Coach of the Year award recipient.
She becomes the 13th active Division III women's basketball coach to reach the 600-win mark and the second to reach that milestone this year, following Husson's Kissy Walker.
The Pride finished the regular season with a 15-10 overall record and will be the third seed in the upcoming NEWMAC conference tournament.