NORTHAMPTON – Two years ago, the Smith College basketball team’s trip to the NCAA Division 3 women’s Sweet 16 came to a screeching halt with the advent of the pandemic. Now, with another opportunity ahead of them, the Pioneers have no trouble embracing the “unfinished business” theme.
Smith busted open a tight game Saturday night with a 25-12 advantage in the fourth quarter, keyed by timely and deadly 3-point shooting, and punched its ticket to next weekend’s national Round of 16 with a 76-58 second-round victory over Brooklyn College at a lively and festive Ainsworth Gymnasium.
“I’m proud of this crew for staying steady and for finding the fourth quarter as a way to create some separation and make a big run,” said Pioneers coach Lynn Hersey. “Brooklyn really pushed us. We’re feeling very happy to be sitting in this seat tonight. It was a super great environment.”
Ally Yamada and Jessie Ruffner each hit a pair of 3-pointers in rapid succession, over a span of 4:43 of the fourth quarter, enabling the Pioneers to expand a narrow 3-point lead all the way to 17 with a 16-2 run.
Next Friday, Smith (25-2) will face Wisconsin-Whitewater (25-4) at a site and time still to be determined. Whitewater downed Illinois Wesleyan, 72-54, Saturday night to advance.
Morgan Morrison, making just her second start of the season, led four Pioneers in double figures with 16 points and 10 rebounds. She followed up her double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in Friday night’s first-round win over Framingham State. Yamada had 14, including four second-half treys, Katelyn Pickunka added a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double of her own, and Ruffner finished with 12. Amelia Clairmont dropped in three from deep for her nine points.
Smith hit 52 percent from the field (25-of-48) and 11-of-25 from beyond the arc, while limiting Brooklyn to 38 percent (23-of-60). The Pioneers held a 33-27 rebounding edge.
Chanel Jemmott threw in a game-high 22 points with eight rebounds for Brooklyn (22-4) before fouling out late. Gianna Gotti added 13 and also had eight rebounds.
After Gotti scored the game’s first basket, Clairmont got Smith started with back-to-back 3-pointers, Morrison scored on a putback and made two free throws, and Ruffner hit a pair of jumpers as the Pioneers went out 14-6. Pickunka then scored the last six points of the quarter to make it a 20-9 game after one.
Brooklyn rattled off the first 10 points of the second quarter, thanks to a post-up and back-to-back treys by Jemmott and a baseline hook by Mary Dolgin for a 20-19 score. The Pioneers answered behind Morrison’s five points and a trey by Dashelle Gleissner (six points, seven assists) to go in front 28-20, and still led by eight, 34-26, before Dolgin scored the last five of the half for the Bulldogs.
Gleissner bagged another 3-pointer early in the third to make it 39-33, but Brooklyn surged back in front on a 7-0 run to take its first lead since 2-0. Gotti made two at the line and a foul-line jumper and Jemmott converted a 3-point play for a 40-39 Bulldogs edge. The visitors still led 44-42 before Smith rattled off nine straight, capped by Yamada’s second 3-pointer of the night. Gotti’s late jumper from the right corner made it a 51-46 Smith lead going to the fourth.
That’s when the Pioneers found their range. Morrison’s driving layup and Ruffner’s left-wing three put the hosts up 56-48. Jemmott scored on a turnaround for Brooklyn, but Smith scored the next 11 unanswered — helped out by two treys from Yamada and one from Ruffner — to make it 67-50, forcing Brooklyn coach Alex Lang to call timeout with 3:41 to play.
“They made us pay by hitting their shots,” said Lang. “They were able to enter the ball into the post against our zone and drive the baseline on us. We had to force things. We don’t see a lot of man-to-man (defense) in our league, and some of our timing and spacing was off.”
“That’s critical when you’re facing a zone,” said Hersey. “It was nice for us to be able to hit some shots early, and then we hit some shots late. It created some good looks for everybody.”
Smith’s lead went to 74-52 before the deep reserves could close out the game for both sides.
“This was definitely a huge advantage for us, playing in front of an amazing crowd. The fans always get us going early in the game,” said Pickunka, the senior Westhampton resident and Hampshire Regional product. “I’m very happy for the opportunity we’ve had, and I’m looking forward to hearing where we’re going to play next weekend.”
“It’s definitely unfinished business,” said Ruffner, a sophomore. “I felt something special my first year with this team, and I wanted four years of this. I knew I was coming back to a team that was ready to grind, even after a year of not playing. I knew we’d get back to where we wanted to be, and we’re excited to be back.”
The Mammoths are moving on to the Sweet 16.
The Amherst College women’s basketball team struggled from the floor in its Round of 32 game against St. John Fisher College, but its defense kept them in it to hold on for a 56-48 victory at LeFrak Gymnasium in Amherst on Saturday.
The Mammoths (23-3) advanced to play Tufts in the Round of 16 on Friday. The game is set to be played back at LeFrak Gymnasium.
It is the 14th consecutive Sweet 16 appearance for the Mammoths, who have eight trips to the national semifinals and three national championships in that time frame.
Amherst outscored the Cardinals in each quarter, leading 15-11 after one, 27-21 at the half and 39-31 after three quarters. It did this despite shooting 30.9 percent from the field and knocking down just 4-of-20 from downtown.
Gabrielle Zaffiro led the way with 13 points in the victory. AnLing Vera tallied 12 points, Reeya Patel and Dani Valdez each had eight points and Lauren Pelosi scored seven points for the Mammoths.