NORTHAMPTON - Trailing by as many as 14 midway through the second quarter, the Smith College basketball team mounted a comeback for the ages in a thrilling 80-67 win over Babson College in a key New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) battle Saturday afternoon at Ainsworth Gymnasium. 

In a matchup of two nationally ranked teams, the fifth-ranked Pioneers have won 16-straight and improve to 22-1 overall and 8-0 in the NEWMAC. No. 14 Babson dropped to 19-4 on the year with a 6-2 mark in conference play. 

How it Happened

• Samantha Smith and Megan Bauman combined for 17 of Babson's first quarter points as the Beavers held a comfortable 24-13 lead after the opening stanza
• Babson pulled ahead by 14 (33-19) with 4:13 left in the second quarter, but Smith responded with a 7-0 run as Amelia Clairmont's (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton School) trey to pull within 33-26 forced a timeout by the visitors with 1:36 on the clock
• A jumper by Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, Calif./Fairmont Prep Academy) as time ran out got the home team within seven at halftime, 38-31
• Smith scored on six of their first eight possessions of the third to make it 44-43 on a Clairmont three-pointer at the 5:28 mark
• Babson was able to extend its lead to 51-47 until a key 10-0 run by Smith helped them to its largest lead of the game, 57-51
• Carrying a 57-55 edge into the fourth, the Pioneers scored the first eight points of the quarter and would hold a comfortable lead throughout the period
• Bauman's layup with 1:37 remaining in the quarter pulled Babson to within six, 72-66, but Smith knocked down 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to clinch the cruciual 80-67win

By the Numbers

• Morgan Morrison (Detroit, Mich./Detroit Country Day) scored a career-high 28 points with 15 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the year
• Amelia Clairmont (Laconia, N.H./New Hampton School) finished with 17 points, while Jessie Ruffner (Rocklin, Calif./Rocklin) added 13 points, six rebounds and five assists
• Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, Calif./Fairmont Prep Academy) poured in 14 points off the bench
• Smith owned advantages in rebounds (37-28), points in the paint (34-32) and bench points (14-12)
• The Pioneers shot 43.6% (24-of-55) from the field, 35.3% (6-of-17) from three-point range and 72.2% (26-of-36) from the free throw line
• Babson shot 47.3% (26-of-55) from the floor, 38.5% (5-of-13) from long distance and 55.6% (10-of-18) from the free throw line 

Up Next
Smith hosts Emerson on Wednesday at 7:00pm.