Northampton, MA – WPI women's basketball rookie Ava Giansiracusa (Whethersfield, CT) led the Engineers with a career-high 22 points as Smith surged late to clinch the 82-78 conference victory on Saturday afternoon in Ainsley Gymnasium.
The host Pioneers, ranked 17th in the most recent D3hoops.com Top 25, is now 12-2 on the season and 1-0 in conference play while WPI falls to 8-7 overall and 0-1 in NEWMAC action.
Smith took an early lead, establishing a 17-8 advantage on 7-of-14 shooting from the floor after the opening quarter. Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) posted 10 second quarter points as Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) added eight points and three boards for WPI as the Engineers battled back outscoring Smith 26-24 in the second quarter.
WPI went 4-for-4 from behind the arc in the second quarter, overcoming their first quarter shooting woes. Smith's impressive defensive efforts, highlighted by steals from Jessie Ruffner (Rocklin, CA) and Selam Maher (Hopkins, MN), contributed to their first half success. Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, CA) led the Pioneers in first half scoring with 12 points, while Hannah Martin (North Andover, MA) tacked on nine points to go with three assists as Smith headed into the locker room with a 41-34 lead.
The Crimson and Gray dominated the third quarter, outscoring Smith 25-16 while shooting 76.9% from the field, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. An Ally McMorrow (Quincy, MA) layup and three straight Smith buckets opened the second half before the Engineers went on 21-8 run over a 5:43 span to take their first lead of the contest at 57-55 with 2:20 remaining in the third stanza of action. During the run, four Engineers logged baskets as Emmy Allyn (Rutland, MA) and Shannon Reno (Millbury, MA) added a three-pointer each and Niles chipped in with two good jumpers while Giansiracusa accounted for 10 points including the go-ahead trifecta.
Smith fought back in the fourth quarter however, and in a tight game that came down to the final minute, came back to win 82-78. The fourth quarter was a nail-biter that saw WPI down by one with a minute left. A layup by Yamada left the Engineers with a chance to tie the game with a three-pointer. Kelly was able to get a game-tying shot off with 20 seconds left that came up just short and a Smith rebound sealed the win for the Pioneers.
Giansiracusa poured in 17 second-half points en route to her career outing as Reno scored 10, including going 2-of-3 from three-point range for a career performance. Niles stuffed the stat sheet for the Engineers with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Smith was led by Yamada with 21 points, while Martin added 16 points, four assists and a season-high six steals in an excellent defensive performance.
WPI held an impressive advantage in three-point shooting, shooting 75% from deep, but Smith's strong defensive pressure resulted in nice steals and 23 fastbreak points, proving to be the decisive factor in an otherwise very tightly matched contest.
Both teams return to the court on Wednesday at 7pm. WPI closes out a brief two-game road trip on Wednesday, venturing to first-year NEWMAC member Salve Regina while Smith heads to Babson in a rematch of the last two NEWMAC Tournament championship games.
Recap Written by Sports Information Student Assistant Owen Radcliffe '24