THE BASICS:

- Score: MIT 70, Smith College 56

- Records: MIT (16-7, 10-4 NEWMAC); Smith (19-5, 12-3 NEWMAC)

- Location: Cambridge, Mass. (Rockwell Cage)

- The Lead: Regionally-ranked No. 10 Smith College outscored No. 9 MIT, 24-14, in the fourth quarter, helping it pull away for a 70-56 NEWMAC women's basketball victory on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers saw Kennedy Guest-Pritchett and Katy McClellan both produce 20 points in addition to recording nine and seven rebounds, respectively. Senior Kara Holinski (Livonia, Mich.) paced the Engineers' balanced scoring performance with 13 points in addition to recording four assists and four steals.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

- Smith inched out to a 12-6 lead following two free throws by McClellan with 3:36 left. Baskets by sophomore Kylie Gallagher (Upton, Mass.) and Holinski helped MIT narrow the gap at the end of the quarter.

- Gallagher tied the game at 12 just nine seconds into the second stanza, but a three-pointer by McClellan sparked a 15-2 run which was capped by a McClellan layup at the 3:46 mark. Both teams traded free throws until first-year Christina Antonakakis (Holdmel, N.J.) buried a jumper, bringing the Engineers within 30-20 heading into halftime.

- MIT chipped away at the deficit, coming within two on two occasions, the last at 40-38 on a jumper by senior Kristen Ngan (Sudbury, Mass.) with 1:37 to go. A three-point play by Guest-Pritchett created some breathing room, however, sophomore Jocelyn Luizzi (Colchester, Conn.) countered with a quick jumper. The Pioneers replied with a Bondi trey, but Luizzi's jumper trimmed the deficit to 46-42 with 29 seconds remaining.

- The visitors opened the final frame with a Bondi three-pointer, setting off a string of 10 unanswered points that fueled their pivotal 24-14 fourth-quarter performance.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

- Ngan recorded 10 points and four rebounds while Gallagher finished with nine points. Antonakakis and Luizzi both chipped in eight points as senior Dolly Yuan (San Jose, Calif.) collected a team-high five rebounds.

- Bondi totaled nine points and five assists while Dashelle Gleissner snagged three steals.

- Smith had the upper hand in rebounds (36-22), points in the paint (32-30), and second-chance points (14-4).

- The Pioneers shot 51.1 percent (24-of-47) from the floor, 55.5 percent (5-of-9) from three-point range, and 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the free-throw line. The Engineers, meanwhile, shot 47.2 percent (23-of-53) from the floor, went 1-of-8 from behind the arc, and converted five of their seven free-throw attempts.

UP NEXT:

- Both teams will host NEWMAC foe Wheaton College in their next outings. MIT will square off with Lyons on Wednesday, Feb. 13 at 8:00 p.m. while the Pioneers will return to the court on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 2:00 p.m.

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