SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Dec. 7, 2010) – Sophomore Lizzy BelBruno poured in 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor to lead the Smith College women's basketball team to a 59-46 triumph over longtime rival Mount Holyoke College this evening at the Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium. The guard drained five three-pointers, as the Pioneers collected their first NEWMAC win of the season.
Three players reached double digits in the scoring column for Mount Holyoke, which shot 32.7% (16-49) from the field. First year guard Annabel Barrett and junior forward Tricia Chase recorded 12 points apiece, while sophomore guard Angelica Pascual added 11. The Lyons pulled down 20 offensive rebounds and finished with a 42-22 edge on the glass. Junior forward Bree Hollinger led the way with seven boards.
Smith knocked down 41.1% (23-56) of its shots from the floor and made all six of its free throw attempts. BelBruno was joined in double digits by first year center Rosa Drummond, who drained a pair of treys en route to 10 points. She also came up with five rebounds.
BelBruno's first three-pointer of the night gave Smith a 15-6 advantage nine minutes into the contest.
Mount Holyoke fought its way back with a 12-6 run over the next eight minutes to slice the deficit to 21-18 at the 3:18 mark. Chase got the spurt started with three layups before Pascual and Barrett netted one trey apiece.
A three-pointer by Drummond gave the Pioneers a 29-22 edge heading into the intermission. All 10 of her points came in the first half. Chase led Mount Holyoke with eight.
Pascual nailed her second trifecta of the night in the early stages of the second stanza to cut the margin to 31-25.
From there, Smith reeled off seven straight points to pull away. The Pioneers led by as many as 16 points (55-39) following back-to-back three pointers by BelBruno with just under eight minutes remaining in regulation. She made three shots from beyond the arc en route to 13 second half points.
Barrett led the Lyons with seven points after the break, while Pascual added six.
Both squads will resume their NEWMAC schedules on the road on Thursday. Mount Holyoke (1-6, 0-3 NEWMAC) will travel to Clark University at 7:00 p.m., while Smith (4-4, 1-2 NEWMAC) will visit the Coast Guard Academy at 7:30 p.m.