SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. - Despite a double-digit effort from three players, the Mount Holyoke College basketball team could not close the gap in the second half, falling to Smith College, 63-56, in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Wednesday evening. The win moves the Pioneers to 9-10 overall and 9-5 in conference play, while the Lyons slip to 5-14 and 2-12 in the NEWMAC.
Mount Holyoke came out firing to start the contest, taking a 14-4 lead in the first six minutes of the contest. Two three-pointers from junior captain Kate Karraker (Morgantown, W.V./Taft School (Conn.), along with a pair of buckets each from junior Amber Legare (Chicopee, Mass./Chicopee Comprehensive) and sophomore Genelle Green (Windsor, Conn./Miss Porter's School) led the charge.
The homestanding Pioneers went on a run of their own, aided by eight points from senior Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H./Portsmouth), to tie the game at 16-all at the 8:54 mark. Consecutive buckets by Smith built up a 22-18 lead, but junior Nicole DeMarchena (Miami, Fla./Amherst Regional (Mass.) and senior Jennine Vizcaino (New York, N.Y./Northfield Mount Hermon (Mass.) equalized the game at 22-22 with 4:02 to play.
Another put-in from Vizcaino gave MHC the edge, but a three-point shot from Drummond, along with a pair of buckets by junior Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) gave the home team a narrow 29-26 lead at halftime.
The second half opened on a bucket from Karraker, but the Pioneers grabbed the momentum as shots from three different players bumped the lead to 35-28 with 17:27 on the clock. Green and Legare each did their part to cut the deficit, closing the gap to 35-32, but a three-pointer from Solis pushed the lead back to six (38-32) with just over 15 minutes to play.
Drummond, who had a game-high 18 points, chipped in four over a two minute stretch to make it a 49-35 game, but the Lyons would not go quiet. First year Kelly Stewart (La Cañada, Calif./La Cañada) dropped in a shot and a three from Karraker made it a 50-42 game with 8:49 to play.
As the clock continued to wind down, Smith maintained a strong advantage, holding a 60-49 lead with 2:29 to play. MHC battled back layups from Legare and Green, but the Pioneers capitalized on their free throws in the closing seconds to secure the victory.
In addition to her game-high points, Drummond also chipped in with a contest-best 11 rebounds. Solis added 13 points, three assists and four steals, while senior Sydney Parkmond (Waterbury, Conn./Chase Collegiate) added 11 points and four assists.
For Mount Holyoke, Karraker recorded 17 points, going 3-of-8 from three-point range. Legare added 15 points and nine rebounds, while Green added 10 points. DeMarchena chipped in with four steals, three assists and a block to go with six points and five boards.
MHC returns to action on Saturday when it hosts MIT at 1pm. Smith is also in action on Saturday, hosting Wellesley at 2pm.
