NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Freshman Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, Ga.) led a trio of players in double figures as she scored 17 points to help pace the Smith College women's basketball team to a 59-44 victory over Wentworth Institute of technology in a non-conference matchup Tuesday night.
With the win the Pioneers improve to 2-2 on the season while the Leopards fall to 2-2 on the year.
The first quarter featured four ties in the opening 6:35, with the last one coming on a sophomore Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) jumper. A pair of senior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) free throws put Wentworth ahead 9-7 with just over three minutes left, however Smith scored the next five points when junior Mandy Castro (San Diego, Calif.) hit a 3-pointer, and, on the ensuing possession, had a steal and went in for a layup.
Senior Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) hit two free throws with 36 second left to pull the Leopards within one and a Camara jumper with four ticks left gave Wentworth a 13-12 lead after the opening 10 minutes of play.
Both teams' offense struggled in the opening part of the second quarter as it took two minutes for Guest-Pritchett to score the first points of the quarter, and, after a Leopard turnover, to give the Pioneers a 16-13 lead. Two Camara free throws and a free throw from senior Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) knotted the game at 16-all with 5:40 left. Smith would outscore Wentworth 13-5 over the remainder of the half to take a 29-21 lead at the break.
A 6-2 spurt with Camara scoring four points and Rogers adding two pulled Wentworth with 7:05 left but eight straight Pioneer points made it a 39-27 game with 4:43 left after a freshman Erin Hanley (San Francisco, Calif.) jumper. Eight straight points – capped off by a 3-pointer from McLaughlin – cut the lead to 39-35 at the end of the third quarter.
On Wentworth's first possession of the fourth quarter, Sabino nailed a jumper to pull the guests within a pair, however freshman Lauren Bondi (Bunraby, B.C.) scored five of her team's next six points to extend the lead to nine (46-37).
The Leopards would pull within six (48-42) with 3:29 left on a Rogers layup but Bondi scored the next four points, which started a game-ending 11-2 run. Both of Wentworth's points came on free throws.
Guest-Pritchett also hauled down 12 rebounds and had a pair of assists while sophomore Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif.) and Bondi had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Rogers and Camara had 13 points apiece for the Leopards, while Rogers also had seven rebounds and six blocked shots. Sabino finished with six points and six rebounds.
Wentworth opens Commonwealth Coast Conference play on Wednesday night at the University of New England.
