Women's Basketball Falls to Smith, 65-41

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University women's basketball team dropped a 65-41 decision to host Smith College on Wednesday afternoon at Ainsworth Gym.

The host Pioneers improve to 3-6 with the victory, while the visiting Bears slip to 5-4 with their third straight setback.

Smith was led by the rookie tandem of guard Meghan Holland (Atherton, Calif.) and forward Amanda Barriscale (Mill Valley, Calif). Holland led all scorers with 21 points on 8 of 10 shooting, while Barriscale posted a double-double with 11 points and ten rebounds to go along with three assists, two blocked shots and a pair of steals. Barriscale made all five of her field goal attempts.

Sophomore forward Chanelle Melton (Brockton, Mass.) paced Bridgewater State with ten points, six boards, two blocks and a steal.  Senior forward Megan Boutilette (Charlton, Mass.) added nine points, three rebounds, three blocks and two steals.

The complexion of the game turned over the final four minutes of the first half as the Pioneers erased an eight-point deficit.

Trailing 20-12 following a Boutilette layup, Smith closed out the opening stanza with an 11-3 run. A Holland jumper in the final seconds capped off the spurt and sent the two teams into the locker room with the score knotted at 23-23.

The Pioneers would dominate play in the second half outscoring the Bears 42-18 over the final twenty minutes. A 14-3 run during a five-minute stretch gave the Pioneers a comfortable 48-32 advantage and they would never look back.

Smith held a 36-18 rebounding advantage including an 11-3 edge on the offensive glass. The Pioneers finished with 14 second chance points for the game compared to zero for the Bears.

Notes: With nine points on the afternoon, Boutilette increased her career scoring total to 971.