Springfield Shakes Off Slow Start to Down Blue Basketball, 53-38

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A trio of double digit scorers helped Springfield College defeat Wellesley College basketball, 53-38, in a New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) contest at Blake Arena on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, Springfield College notches their 10th win (10-2) in conference play, which improves their overall record to 14-7. Wellesley drops to 8-11 overall and 5-8 in NEWMAC play.

Senior Grace Restituyo (Barrington, R.I.) led the Pride with a double-double, registering 12 points and 14 rebounds, while first years Amanda Carr (West Haven, Conn) and Grace Dzindolet (Holliston, Mass) came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Wellesley sophomore Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif) finished in double-figures for the third straight game, leading all scorers with 13 points, while finishing one rebound shy of her second straight double with nine rebounds. Junior Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) ended the day with ten points for the Blue.

Wellesley held a one point advantage after the first quarter of play, 14-13. Aguirre led the effort, as she scored seven of her ten points in the first ten minutes. Senior Zojajha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) also contributed three points on Wellesley's only made three of the game (1-of-11). The cold shooting carried into the second quarter, where the Pride outscored the Blue, 11-2, to take a 24-16 lead to halftime. Carr scored four of her 11 points in the second frame to help the Pride build the eight point lead.

The Blue battled in the third quarter, forcing six Springfield turnovers, but were unable to outscore the Pride, as the hosts shot 46.2% (6-of-13) from the field, while Wellesley finished 29.4% (5-of-17) for the quarter. Junior Lauren Rudolph (Franklin, Mass.) scored five of her seven points off the bench in the third quarter to help the Pride. Cho scored nine of her 12 points in the fourth quarter, but it was not enough for the Blue to mount the comeback. Springfield took advantage at the charity stripe in the fourth, as they shot 72.7% (8-of-11) to seal the victory.

Wellesley will square off against MIT at the Dorothy Towne Fieldhouse on February 6 at 7:00 PM for National Girls & Women in Sports Day. The Pride hit the road for their next contest on February 6th at Emerson for a 7:00PM tip.