Springfield, Mass. - January 12, 2022 - The Springfield College women's basketball program fought its way to a 75-71 victory over Babson College on Wednesday evening in Blake Arena. 

Springfield, who entered the contest ranked No. 13 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) National Coaches Poll, are off to their best start in program history with a 13-0 record. Babson drops to 9-4. Springfield dominated the offensive with 24 caroms en route to out rebounding Babson, 50-40. Babson outscored Springfield in the paint, 40-36, however, the Pride forced the Beavers to commit 17 turnovers. 

Springfield had five players finish in double figures on the afternoon. Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.) provided a spark off the bench with 15 points and seven rebounds. Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.) added another double-double performance with 15 points and 15 rebounds, while Sidney Wentland (Elk River, Minn.) scored 12 points and seven rebounds. Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) put together an efficient line with 13 points, six rebounds, three steals, and four assists. Grace Dzindolet (Holliston, Mass.) chipped in 14 points to go along with six boards and four assists. 

Meg Bauman led all scorers with 21 points, while Kelly Walsh chipped in 19 points for Babson. 

At 5:13 in the first quarter, Dzindolet capped off the Pride's scoring run as the senior guard euroed through two defenders and flipped in the layup to give Springfield an 11-3 advantage to start the game, later at 3:47, Dzindolet skipped the ball to Wentland for the long jumper, which lead to a Babson timeout. Out of the timeout, the Beavers responded quickly as Kelly Walsh drove baseline and finished through contact at 3:33, then Bauman would use a change of direction move to get to the cup for the bucket to make the score 15-10 with 2:18 remaining. Walsh would bring the Beavers within two with another layup with 1:49 remaining, however, Hourihan would stick a jumper to give the Pride a 18-14 edge after the first quarter. 

A three from Jaélen Daubon  (Hyde Park, N.Y.) allowed Springfield to take a 21-14 lead in the early goings of the second quarter, however, Babson would respond with timely buckets to keep the Springfield lead within single digits. At 3:36, Madison Odam brought the Beavers within two of the Pride with an inside finish to make the score 25-17. The Pride were able to increase their lead with 2:06 to play after a putback from Czeremcha and a nice dribble drive layup from Vinton put Springfield ahead 31-25. The Beavers closed the half on a 8-3 run, which was capped off by a Walsh jumper to beat the horn leaving the score at 34-33 after one half of play. 

To start the third, jumpers from Walsh and McMenemy pushed Babson ahead with a 39-36 lead with 9:10 to go. From there, each team would trade baskets, which kept the game within three points for much of the quarter. At 4:32, Kiara Davis scored inside through contact and knocked in the free throw to tie the game at 47 apiece. Starting with another putback from Czeremcha at 4:10, Springfield went on a 9-3 run, which was capped off by a Dzindolet triple and allowed Springfield to take a 56-50 lead heading into the fourth quarter. 

Babson was able to chip into the Springfield lead with a Bauman jumper at 5:19, then Bauman found Davis for the three, which brought the score to 65-62 with 4:27 left in the contest. Springfield withstood the visitors' burst with a bucket from and-one bucket from Wentland and a jumper from Dzindolet off the feed from Vinton to go back up 70-63 with 3:44 remaining. Despite a pair of threes from Babson, Springfield would stave off the Beavers with free throws to seal the 75-71 victory. 

Springfield will face Wheaton on Saturday at 6pm at Western New England University.