Springfield, Mass. - December 31, 2021 - The Springfield College women's basketball program kicked off the Hampton Inn/West Springfield Naismith Classic with a 82-54 win over Eastern Connecticut in Blake Arena on Friday afternoon. 

Springfield, who was ranked No. 17 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association National Poll, stays perfect on the season with an 11-0 record. Eastern Connecticut falls to 6-5 on the year. Springfield shot 10-of-20 from behind the arc, while out rebounding the Warriors, 52-35. 

 Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.) led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting and added eight rebounds. Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) put forth a strong effort with 10 points, six assists, and four rebounds. Jaélen Daubon (Hyde Park, N.Y.) proved to be a spark off the bench with 10 points. 

Jenna Serrantino scored 19 for the Warriors in the setback. 

Springfield came out with a quick 7-0 lead through the first four minutes of action, which was capped off by a putback layup from Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.) at the 6:43 mark in the first quarter. With 2:41 left, the visitors were able to close the first quarter deficit to just three as Danielle O'Brien canned a three off the dish from Emily Jeamel to make the score 12-9. Springfield would respond with a pair of buckets as Vinton would thread the ball to Daubon for the cutting layup at 2:21, then, Vinton would drive and kick to Kayla Madden (Ashland, Mass.) for the straight away three with 1:44 to go, which gave the Pride a 17-11 lead over Eastern Connecticut. After a quick bucket from Serrantino, Springfield came back down and closed out the quarter with a side step three from Riley Robinson (Adams, Mass.) leaving the score at 20-13 headed into the second quarter.

 Hourihan kicked off the quarter with a driving layup in traffic and then a three on the wing on back-to-back possessions to give Springfield a 25-13 lead with 8:39 on the clock. Eastern Connecticut would cut the lead to 10 as Ward used a smooth post move to score through contact and would sink the free throw, making the score 30-20 with 4:35 to go. After Hourihan made a jumper for Springfield, the Warriors used an 8-0 run to close the deficit to 32-28 over the final four minutes, before Grace Dzindolet (Holliston, Mass.) zipped a pass to Lindsey Laughlan (Ellington, Conn.) for a transition basket with 33 ticks left to give the Pride a 34-28 halftime lead. 

Springfield used an 18-4 run spanning from the 6:14 mark until 1:06 left in the third quarter to build their lead to 62-38 after Czeremcha tapped away a pass and scored in transition for the Pride. With 12 seconds remaining, Daubon drilled her second three of the stanza off the extra pass from Summer Matlack (Arlington, Va.) and helped the Pride elevate their lead to 65-40. Springfield outscored Eastern Connecticut 31-12 in the third quarter, while shooting 62.5% from three and assisting on 10 of its 12 buckets.

The third quarter scoring outburst helped Springfield separate itself from the Warriors. Springfield would reach its largest lead of the game at 82-50 as Madden sank a corner three off the drive and kick from Robinson with 2:30 remaining in the game and allowed Springfield to cruise to the victory. 

No. 18 Springfield will take on Union College tomorrow at 4:00 on the second day of the Hampton Inn/West Springfield Naismith Classic. 

 For the latest on Springfield College Athletics, follow the Pride on social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Springfield "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.