NORTHAMPTON, Mass.—Junior Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) poured in 24 points to go along with seven assists, five rebounds and four steals to help visiting Babson College cruise past Smith College, 81-56, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Ainsworth Gym.

With its third straight win, Babson is now 5-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play, while Smith drops to 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the NEWMAC.

First-year Elizabeth Lane (Skaneateles, N.Y.) went 5-of-5 from the floor and drained a trio of three-pointers on her way to scoring a career-high 13 points for the Beavers. Senior Marissa Cicchetti (Mansfield, Mass.) added eight points and assists, while junior Taylor Russell(Braintree, Mass.) chipped in with eight points and five rebounds.

First-year Kennedy Guest-Pritch (Fairburn, Ga.) posted a double-double with 24 points and a game-high 15 rebounds to lead the Pioneers.

The Green and White committed eight first-quarter turnovers and fell behind 23-15 on a layup by first-year Lauren Bondi (Burnaby, British Columbia) with 8:00 left in the second. Down seven with just over six minutes to play in the stanza, the Beavers closed the half with a 16-4 run to take the lead for good. Pickering put the visitors up 30-29 with a free throw and sophomore Brenna LeGacy (Attleboro, Mass.) scored six consecutive points to make it 36-31 at the break.

Smith cut its deficit to three out of the break, but back-to-back hoops by Cicchetti sparked a 12-0 Babson run that made it 48-33 with 5:53 to go in the third quarter. The Pioneers got as close as 14 late in the frame, but the Green and White capped a 13-3 spurt with a three-pointer by Lane to take its biggest lead of the afternoon at 70-45 with just over seven minutes to play in the fourth.

The Beavers held Smith to just 6-of-23 shooting (26.1 percent) shooting in the second half and forced 10 turnovers while outscoring the Pioneers 45-25 over the final 20 minutes.

Babson shot 45.5 percent (30-of-66) for the game and held a 38-37 edge on the glass. The Green and White also scored 26 points off turnovers and got 34 points from its bench.

Smith shot just 34.5 percent for the game (19-of-55) and was just 2-of-12 beyond the arc. The Pioneers did score 14 second-chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday at 7 p.m. as Babson visits Brandeis, while Smith travels to Williams.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are now 35-10 all-time against Smith and have won 14 of the last 16 games between the teams.
• Babson has now won nine of its last 10 conference road games going back to last season.
• The Green and White has forced at least 18 turnovers in eight straight games.
• The Beavers are shooting 52.7 percent against conference opponents on the year.