SPRINGFIELD, Mass.—Leading by four at halftime, the Babson College women's basketball team shot just 22.6 percent in the second half and suffered its first its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) loss on Tuesday night, falling 55-46 at Springfield College.

Babson, which is has dropped three of its last four games, is now 8-5 overall and 4-1 in league play, while Springfield moves to 9-4 overall and 4-1 in the NEWMAC.

Junior Taylor Russell (Braintree, Mass.) scored nine points, while senior Marissa Cicchetti(Mansfield, Mass.) and junior Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) each added eight points to lead the Beavers. Sophomore Julianna Rosenberg (Verona, N.J.) finished with a career-high seven points, all in the second half.

Senior Emily Gins (Fort Myers, Fla.) finished with game highs of 18 points and nine rebounds to lead the Pride.

The Green and White opened the game with a 7-0 run and took its biggest lead of the night on a layup by Russell to make it 15-6 with 1:52 left in the first quarter. Springfield responded with a 9-0 spurt to tie the game a little over a minute into the second quarter, but back-to-back hoops by Russell and senior Jess Coelho (Westport, Conn.), followed by a three-point play by Cicchetti, gave the Beavers a 22-15 lead with 4:33 to go before halftime.

First-year Elizabeth Lane (Skaneateles, N.Y.) pushed the Babson advantage to 29-21 late in the first half, but the Pride cut its deficit to 29-25 going to the locker room and then opened the third quarter with an 8-0 run to take the lead for good. Russell knocked down a jumper to momentarily stop the run, but Springfield countered with seven straight points to push its advantage to 40-31 with 3:23 left in the period.

The Green and White got within six on a jumper by Rosenberg with 1:52 left in the third and cut its deficit to just 48-43 on a transition hoop by Pickering with 4:06 to go in the fourth. Babson missed a layup on its next possession and the Pride put the game away with a 6-0 burst, including consecutive hoops by Gins, to make it 54-43 with just under two minutes remaining.

The Beavers shot just 32.3 percent (20-of-62) on the night and attempted a season-low three free throws. The Green and White scored 16 points off of 17 Springfield turnovers and finished with a 26-20 edge in paint scoring.

The Pride shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) and finished with a 47-36 edge on the glass.

Both teams return to action on Thursday at 7 p.m. as Babson hosts Wellesley, while Springfield visits Coast Guard.

GAME NOTES
• The Beavers are 23-11 all-time against the Pride, but have dropped three straight regular-season meetings in Springfield.
• Babson finished without a double-figure scorer for the first time since a 57-43 loss to Tufts on January 5, 2015, a span of 31 games.
• With Tuesday's loss, the Beavers are now just 1-4 this season when being held below 60 points.
• Babson is now 7-2 this season and 29-4 over its last 33 games when leading at halftime.