SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Springfield College outscored the Mount Holyoke College basketball team 22-0 in the first quarter and coasted to a 73-29 NEWMAC victory Wednesday night in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium, following a strong second-half effort by the host Lyons.
Claire Finney led Springfield (16-4, 5-1 NEWMAC) with 12 points and Rachel Vinton paced the Pride with 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. Lindsey Laughlan scored 11 points and Amanda Leary added 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. The Pride won its fourth straight game.
Sophomore Libby Harris (Foxborough, Mass.) made a pair of 3-pointers in the third quarter and led Mount Holyoke (2-18, 0-6 NEWMAC with six points. Senior captain Nicole Lutalo (Kampala, Uganda) had five points and four rebounds and first-year Emma Goff (Cohasset, Mass.) totaled four points, four rebounds, two steals and two assists for the Lyons.
Springfield held Mount Holyoke to 0-13 shooting in the first quarter while making 9-17 shots (.529) of its own from the field. Angela Czeremcha had four points and six rebounds, Vinton scored six points, and Leary and Lindsey Laughlan all had four points apiece in the decisive period.
Springfield outscored Mount Holyoke 19-5 in the second quarter to assume a 41-5 lead at intermission. But Mount Holyoke came out a different team in the second half. Harris made two threes in the opening 2:42 of the half, and then a jumper made by junior Katie Rha (Douglaston, N.Y.) prompted a Springfield timeout at the 6:39 mark of the third quarter, with the Pride leading 47-13. Lutalo made a jump shot a minute later to make it 51-15, but Springfield outscored Mount Holyoke 8-0 over the final four minutes of the period.
Springfield held a hefty lead throughout the fourth quarter, but Mount Holyoke tied the Pride in scoring for the period, 14-14. First-year guard Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.) opened the period with a 3-pointer followed by a driving layup, giving Mount Holyoke 20 points. Lutalo, sophomore Kendall Maurer (Orinda, Calif.), and junior Amrit Khinda (Van Nuys, Calif.) all made buckets for Mount Holyoke in the period.
Mount Holyoke hits the road for its next two games -- on Saturday at 1pm, the Lyons tip off at Emerson College.
