NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - Sophomore Mandy Castro (San Diego, Calif./Poway) tallied 12 points and dished out a season-best nine assists to lead Smith past Wellesley College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference play Saturday afternoon. The victory extends Smith's (4-6, 1-2 NEWMAC) winning streak to three games.

Wellesley first-year Kayla Lang (South Pasadena, Calif./Milton Academy) and sophomore Ailis Hanley (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) both scored in double-figures for the Blue, tallying 17 and 15 points, respectively, but it wasn't enough to overcome 12 second-half turnovers. The opportunistic Pioneers scored 21 points off of those 12 turnovers.

The first half featured six ties and four lead changes, as Smith rallied from an early 6-3 deficit to take a 17-14 lead on Alyssa Barrett (Berlin, Conn./Berlin)'s three with 6:41 left in the first half. The Blue responded with seven unanswered points, punctuated by senior Kendall Blanchi(Arlington, Va./Sidwell Friends)'s three with 3:57 remaining to give Wellesley a 21-17 lead. The two sides traded baskets in the final minutes of the first stanza, as a Lauren Weston(Florence, Mass./Northampton) jumper with 18 seconds in the half sent Smith into the locker room trailing by four, 30-26.

A three by Jang pushed Wellesley's advantage to seven to open the second half, but Castro answered with a three of her to cut the lead to four (33-29) with 18 minutes to play. Jang drew contact on the Blue's next trip down the court and made one of two free throws to extend their lead to five, but back-to-back three's by Smith's Castro and first-year Samantha Alakai(Honolulu, Hawaii/Punahou School) gave the Pioneers their first lead of the second half (35-34) with 16:45 to play.

Wellesley (0-2, 3-6) continued to keep pace with Smith over the next eight minutes, as a layup by junior Chelsi Scott (Portland, Mich./Portland) gave the Blue a 52-50 advantage with 7:35 remaining. Smith pulled away from there, outscoring Wellesley, 21-9 to close out the contest and seal the conference win.

Four Pioneers scored in double-figures led by Alakai's game-high 17 points. Weston finished with 14 points, while Barrett (14) and Castro (12) each notched double-digit scoring outputs.

Wellesley returns to action on Wednesday, January 7 when they take on Emerson College at 8 p.m. while Smith heads to Babson College on Wednesday. Tip-off with the Beavers is set for 6 p.m.