SPRINGFIELD - History was made Wednesday evening as Dashelle Gleissner (Los Angeles, Calif./Serra) became the first player in program history to reach 500 career assists in Smith's 74-56 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win against Springfield College at Blake Arena. 

The No. 5 Pioneers improve to 21-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play. Springfield, which continues to receive votes in the D3hoops.com National poll, dropped to 14-8, 4-3. 

Game Highlights

• After a Rachel Vinton floater evened the game up at 4-4 just under three minutes in, Smith would pour on a 9-0 spurt to open up a 13-4 edge following a Katelyn Pickunka (Westhampton, Mass./Hampshire) jumper at 3:29.  Amelia Clairmont (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton School) would later drill a trifecta with 1:05 left to push the advantage to 18-8 and the visitors would close out the first 10 minutes of action with a 20-12 lead.
• Springfield pulled within 22-16 at the 8:04 mark and Sam Hourihan would can a triple of her own with 6:00 on the clock to make it a 26-22 contest.  However, the Pioneers would manufacture an 11-3 push to have its lead balloon to 37-25 with under a minute to play.  The Pride would get a pair of late scores, including a fast-break bucket to beat the buzzer and trim Smith's halftime lead to 37-29. 
• The Pride would get as close as six points when Stefany Padula cashed in on a pair from the free throw line at 7:55 in the third.  From there, the Pride would struggle to score as Smith used a 9-2 run, capped off by a pull up jumper in the paint by Pickunka at 3:12, to extend the lead to 50-37.
• Springfield would make it a 52-43 deficit after a late Vinton bucket in the third, only to have the Pioneers produce another 9-2 scoring burst in the first two-plus minutes of the fourth to earn a commanding 61-45 lead.  The visitors would shoot 9-of-12 from the field in the fourth and outscore Springfield by a 22-13 margin to pull away for the 74-56 win.  

By the Numbers

• Katelyn Pickunka (Westhampton, Mass./Hampshire) notched her sixth double-double the year, finishing with 18 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and two steals
• Morgan Morrison (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Country Day) shot 9-of-13 from the field to record 20 points with seven rebounds
• Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, Calif./Fairmont Prep Academy) added 14 points off the bench and Gleissner totaled six assists on her historic night
• Smith led the way in rebounds (39-35), points in the paint (38-34), and bench scoring (18-10)
• The Pioneers shot 51.7 percent (30-of-58) from the floor, 28.6 percent (6-of-21) from three-point range, and 61.5 percent (8-of-13) from the free throw line
• Springfield shot 33.3 percent (22-of-66) from the floor, 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from behind the arc, and 90 percent (9-of-10) at the charity stripe.

Up Next
Smith faces a key NEWMAC opponent on Saturday as No. 14 Babson comes to Ainsworth. The Pioneers will honor its four seniors prior to the game. 

About Smith Athletics: Smith College is a NCAA Division III member of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference that sponsors 11 intercollegiate sports. For more information log on to smithpioneers.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.