Wellesley Basketball Falls to Smith in Regular Season Finale

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Wellesley College basketball dropped a 94-54 NEWMAC contest to No. 18 Smith College in the team's regular season finale at Ainsworth Gym on Saturday.

Grad student Sofia Rosa (Sudbury, Mass.) scored 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting for the Pioneers (22-3 Overall, 10-1 NEWMAC). Senior Ally Yamada (Seal Beach, Calif.) added 16 points and classmate Jessie Ruffner (Rocklin, Calif.) recorded a game-high nine rebounds.

First year Trinity Barrow (Evans, Ga.) led all scorers with 20 points for the Blue (9-14 Overall, 2-9 NEWMAC). Classmate Mirella Funari (Phoenix, Ariz.) contributed 16 points and six rebounds.

The teams were tied 11-11 five and a half minutes into the game when the Pioneers went on a 13-2 run. A late layup from Barrow kept the score within single-digits at the end of the first quarter, 26-17.

Smith maintained a 10 to 15 point lead for the majority of the second quarter. The Pioneers were up by 21 with 2:12 remaining in the quarter, and finished the first half up 48-32.

The Pioneers outscored the Blue 22-12 in the third quarter to grab a 70-44 lead after three frames. Smith closed out a 94-54 win with a 24-10 fourth quarter.

Smith shot 37-for-62 (59.7%) from the floor, including going 12-of-29 (41.4%) on three pointers. Wellesley went 20-for-54 (37.0%) shooting and knocked down 9-of-10 (90%) free throws. The Pioneers dominated the glass, winning the rebound battle 40-15, which in turn led to 20 second chance points. 

The Pioneers clinched the No. 2 seed in the NEWMAC Women's Basketball Championship and will host No. 7 Clark in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, February 21.