NORTHAMPTON, Mass.  – Junior Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fariburn, Ga./The Lawrenceville School) notched a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Smith College Pioneers past the University of Southern Maine Huskies 72 – 64 in a non-conference women's basketball game Saturday afternoon in the first game of the 2017 Tyler Tip Off Tournament.

With the win, the Pioneers move their record to 2-0.  Southern Maine is 0-2 to start the season. The Huskies will returns to action on Sunday (2:00 p.m.) in the second game of the tournament.

Guest-Pritch led all scorers shooting 8-12 from the field, and 5-7 from the free throw line.  Senior Amanda Barriscale (Mill Valley, Calif./Tamalpais) was the only other Smith player in double figures scoring adding 12 and 9 rebounds.

The Huskies had four players in double figures led by sophomore forward Chantel Eells (Turner, Maine/Leavitt).  Eells had a career-best 14 points on 5-8 shooting from the floor, while freshman Kristen Curley (Gorham, Maine) also had a career-best scoring 13 points on a perfect 6-6 effort from the field, adding four rebounds and two steals off of the bench.  Juniors Alexa Srolovitz (Montreal, Quebec/New Hampton School (NH)) and Kimberly Howrigan (Fairfield, Vt./Bellows Free Academy) each had 10 points.  Sophomore Jackie Luckhardt (Londonderry, N.H.) added eight points, three assists and three steals.

Trailing by 11, 36 – 47, to begin the fourth quarter, USM made several runs in the final 10 minutes of regulation and trailed by seven with 05:17 to play on a jumper from Luckhardt, but the Pioneers were able to counter each run to hold off the Huskies down the stretch.  After a three from Srolovitz made it 58 – 66 in favor of the Pioneers with just under a minute to play, Smith made 6-of-8 free throws to close out the game.  

USM shot a solid 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the floor and 81.8 percent (9-of-11)  from the free throw line.  Smith shot 24-of-52 from the field for 46.2 percent shooting, but enjoyed a 20-for-27 effort from the free throw line in the game.

–cac–