Springfield Uses Late Run to Pull Away From Mount Holyoke

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (Jan. 26, 2011) – The Springfield College women's basketball team used a 19-7 run over the final 15 minutes to secure a 52-40 victory over Mount Holyoke College this evening at Blake Arena. With the win, the Pride snapped a three game losing slide and completed the season sweep of their NEWMAC counterparts.

Mount Holyoke was paced by junior forward Tricia Chase, who finished with 12 points and four rebounds. Senior guard Christine Chancy tallied eight points, while first year forward Jennine Vizcaino and sophomore guard Jasmine Brown collected six apiece. Sophomore guard Angelica Pascual pulled down seven boards for the Lyons, who finished with a 33-32 edge on the glass. As a team, Mount Holyoke converted a season best 42.2% (19-45) of its shots from the field but went scoreless from the charity stripe.

Junior forward Kelly Slattery racked up a double-double on 18 points and 10 rebounds to set the tone for Springfield. The Pride shot 35.7% (20-56) from the floor and never trailed in the contest. Slattery was joined in double digits by classmate Kelly Murphy, who posted 13 points.  Sophomore forward Emily Walker chipped in with seven points and nine rebounds.

Springfield (6-12, 6-5 NEWMAC) gained control with an 8-0 burst in the middle of the first half. Walker got the rally started with a conventional three-point play, and Murphy kept it going with her first trey of the night just over a minute later. A layup by Slattery put the hosts in front 21-12 at the 7:31 mark.

The Pride led by nine points on three occasions in the final minutes of the opening frame, but Mount Holyoke sliced the deficit to 30-25 on a layup by Chase in the waning seconds.

The Lyons exploded out of the gate in the second half, outscoring the hosts 8-3 over the first five minutes. A layup by Chancy capped off the spurt and knotted things up at 33-33 at the 14:57 mark.

From there, it was all Springfield. The Pride scored the next eight points and never looked back. A layup by Slattery with 2:36 remaining pushed the lead to 50-37. She scored 10 of her 18 points over the final 15 minutes.

Mount Holyoke (4-13, 2-9 NEWMAC) will resume its NEWMAC slate on Saturday, when it hosts Wellesley College at 1:00 p.m.