Springfield, Mass. - February 16, 2022 - The Springfield College women's basketball program prevailed over Coast Guard, 76-43, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) competition on Wednesday evening in Blake Arena.
Springfield, who is ranked No. 19 in the latest Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III National Coaches Poll, earned its 20th win of the season marking the first time since 2001-02 season that the program has eclipsed the 20-win mark during the regular season. Coast Guard falls to 12-10 and 4-5 in league play. Springfield shot 47.5% from floor on 28-of-59 shooting and assisted on 24 baskets. The Pride outrebounded its opponent, 40-29, and accounted for 29 second chance points.
Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, Mass.) led all scorers with 16 points, seven rebounds, and four helpers. Sidney Wentland (Elk, River, Minn.) showed off her versatile skill set en route to nine points, nine assists, and six rebounds, meanwhile, Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, Mass.) tallied 14 points and nine boards off the bench for the Pride. Rachel Vinton (Rutland, Mass.) pitched in 10 points in the win.
Kira Wood and Kelly Hagerty each had eight points for the Bears.
Springfield assisted on its six of its first seven baskets as the Pride took a 16-7 lead after Grace Dzindolet (Holliston, Mass.) walked into a midrange jumpshot off the throw back pass from Stephanie Lyons (Boston, Mass.) at the 6:31 mark in the first quarter, which forced a Coast Guard timeout. The visitors cut it to 20-13 with 3:47 to go as Lily Mika coverted a pair of free throws for the Bears. Wentland and Vinton would each go two-for-two from the line to allow Springfield to take a 24-15 lead heading into the second quarter.
Coast Guard was able to trim the Springfield lead down to 31-22 with 5:07 left in the second as Kyra Hartman would dribble into a jumper at the elbow off the feed from Glory Blethen, however, a 7-0 burst from the Pride would bring the lead back up to 38-22 as Kayla Madden swished a wing three off the kick out from Wentland with 1:15 to cap off the run. Wood stuck another three for the Bears just before the half to make the halftime score 38-25.
Springfield opened up the second half making a conscious effort to make the extra pass, which allowed the Pride to continue to find easy baskets. At 2:36, Wentland drew three defenders on a drive and slipped the ball to a cutting Vinton for the inside bucket to increase the lead to 55-35. In the fourth quarter, Springfield held Coast Guard to just six points in the stanza for a 23.1% shooting percentage, allowing for the Pride to increases its advantage. Springfield took its largest lead of the contest at 75-39 as Jaélen Daubon (Hyde Park, N.Y.) finished in the paint with 2:14 remaining, which later led to the 76-43 win.
Springfield will close out the regular season on the road against Mount Holyoke on Saturday, February 19 at 2:00.
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