Springfield Rallies to Top Mariners

More news about: Maine Maritime

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Springfield College rallied from a 10-point deficit in the first half to knock off Maine Maritime 62-37 in the first round of the 2014 Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic Tuesday. The Pride won their fifth-straight game and improved to 6-3, while the Mariners dropped to 4-5.

Maine Maritime will take on Colby in Wednesday's consolation game, while Springfield plays Drew in the 3 p.m. championship contest.

The Mariners were led by Kari Jones with a team-high nine points. Cheyenne Malloy added seven points while Leah Jackson pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds and had six points.

Jaimie Bickelhaupt earned her sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds for Springfield. The junior was one of four Springfield players to put up double-digit points. Heather Lewis was the game's leading scorer with 14 points, Tamara Tribble had 13 points and nine rebounds and Lexi Windwer put up 11 points for the Pride. 

Maine Maritime's Alex Winchester got the Mariners on the board first in the opening minutes, but Tribble answered right back, tying it up on the other end of the court. 

With 15 minutes left in the first, Lewis tied it up 6-6, sinking both of her free throws after being fouled in the paint.  Jones drained a three-pointer to give the Mariners a five point lead. Malloy followed that up with a three of her own on the next possession and the Mariners jumped out to a 20-12 lead with 7:27 left in the half. 

The Pride put together a run of their own, highlighted by a three-pointer by Windwer making it a one-point game with 4:17 left in the first, 22-21.

Windwer drained a deep three-pointer as time expired in the first half, giving the Pride a 26-24 advantage heading into the locker room and their first lead of the game. 

Bickelhaupt opened up the second half with a quick jumper to give the Pride a 28-24 lead in the opening seconds to spark a 7-0 run for the Pride. Springfield pushed the lead to 15 points before Malloy ended the drought for Maine Maritime with 12:01 left in the game, sinking both of her free throws to make it a 39-26 game.