WORCESTER -- Angela Czeremcha (West Springfield, MA) tallied a game-best 16 points, while Sam Hourihan (Bridgewater, MA) and Rachel Vinton (Rutland, MA) each cracked double figures in scoring as fifth-seeded Springfield rallied to defeat fourth-seeded and host WPI 61-56 in a NEWMAC Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal played Wednesday evening in Harrington Auditorium.
Springfield moves to 18-8 overall and advances to Friday's semifinal round, when then will venture to top-seeded and nationally-ranked Smith for a 7pm contest. The Engineers see their season end with a 17-7 mark.
WPI never trailed in the first half, leading by as many as eight at 17-8 late in the first quarter following a conventional 3-point play by McKenna Finken (Simsbury, CT) but the Pride would forge a halftime deadlock after a Hourihan jumper with 35 seconds to go before intermission, sending the teams into the locker room tied at 30.
The Crimson and Gray scored nine of the third quarter's first 11 points but again the visitors responded, this time with an 8-0 spurt to take their first lead of the game at 40-39. The two teams saw four lead changes the rest of the stanza with WPI taking a 45-43 advantage into the final quarter.
Offensive rebounding was key over the final 10 minutes as the Pride gobbled up six boards off the offensive glass to spearhead an 11-0 run over six-minutes that transformed a 49-47 deficit with seven minutes remaining into a 58-49 edge with just 60 seconds left. Springfield held a 5-4 bulge in fourth quarter field goals made but drained 8-of-16 free throws in the final period while WPI was a perfect 2-for-2 in the last quarter.
Czeremcha corralled eight rebounds to go along with her 16 points. Hourihan finished with 15 points and seven boards while Vinton notched 12 points and swiped a pair of steals. Kayla Madden (Ashland, MA) gave the guests a boost off the bench with eight points.
Alex Scariati (Scotch Plains, NJ) paced WPI with 12 points and a game-high six assists. Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) reached double digits in scoring with 10 points and Lisa Cristiano (Valhalla, NY) led all with 10 rebounds. Melanie Presseau, (Manchester, NH) Victoria Mirecki, (Washingtonville, NY) and Finken all registered nine points with Presseau adding to her WPI career 3-point record with three trifectas to end her standout career with 154.
Majority of recap written by WPI Sports Information student assistant Cameron Carlin '24