Smith Comes Away with 73-55 Victory Over Wellesley Basketball

WELLESLEY, Mass. – Three Smith College starters scored in double figures, led by a game-high 16 points from sophomore Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, Ga.), as the visiting Pioneers earned a 73-55 New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) victory over Wellesley College basketball on Wednesday evening at Gracia Mangano Martore '73 Court.

Smith jumps to 12-4 on the season and 5-3 in conference play, dealing the Blue their second straight setback to send Wellesley to 7-7 overall and 3-5 in the NEWMAC. 

Junior Samantha Alakai (Pukalani, Hawaii) and sophomore Erin Hanley (San Francisco, Calif.) joined Guest-Pritchett in double figures, with Alakai scoring 15 and Hanley adding 11. Guest-Pritchett , Alakai and junior Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif.) all tallied seven boards in the contest to help the Pioneers to a 44-24 edge on the glass. Alakai also had a game-high three steals, while Marquez, Hanley and senior Mandy Castro (San Diego, Calif.) each had three assists in the game

Wellesley first year Lauren Dines (Tenafly, N.J.) paced the Blue with 12 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Dines finished 4-of-7 from the floor, adding a pair of rebounds and an assist. Sophomore Zojajha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) dropped in 11 points, while junior Chelsea Brown (San Jose, Calif.) chipped in with nine. Junior Kayla Jang (South Pasadena, Calif.) added six points, four rebounds and five assists for the Blue. 

Smith got out to a ten-point opening quarter lead, taking a 12-2 advantage at the midway point of the first, when Hanley knocked down two free throws. Two Wellesley triples from Dines, and a Smith bucket from Guest-Pritchett, ran the score to 14-8, but the Blue would get no closer than six in the first ten minutes of the contest, as Smith eventually took a 21-15 edge into the second. 

The visitors also outscored the Blue 21-15 in the second quarter, doubling their advantage to 42-30 at the half. Guest-Pritchett led all scorers with eight in the second quarter, while Alakai was 2-of-2 from long range. Wellesley got as close as five, when Jang hit a three-pointer with 2:33 left before the half, but a 10-2 Smith run to close the quarter helped the visitors take the double-digit edge at the break.

Smith would go on to extend their advantage to as many as 22 in the second half, taking a 63-41 lead following a triple from Sydney Koh (Seattle, Wash.) at 8:36 of the fourth. The Pioneers knocked down 21.8 percent (7-22) of their attempts from beyond the arc to finish 41 percent from the field in the 73-55 win.

The Blue fired back at a 40.4 percent clip from the field, knocking down a season-best nine three-point field goals, but struggled to keep pace on the boards. Smith took advantage with 15 second chance points, while outscoring the Blue 30-14 in the paint.