Box ScoreWorcester, Mass. - November 15, 2011 - Kelly Slattery poured in 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting to lead the Springfield College women's basketball team to a 64-41 win at Worcester State in the Pride's season opener on Tuesday evening.
The Pride (1-0) were also led by junior Meghan Biondolillo who netted 13 points as classmate Colleen Dignum added 11. Third-year Emily Walker gobbled up a game-best nine rebounds while senior Kelly Murphy had a great all-around game with eight assists, four points, four steals and three rebounds.
Sophomore Meaghan Burns paced the Lancers (0-1) with 12 points and seven caroms and senior Kaleigh Charette chipped in with eight points, five rebounds and three assists. Freshman Shannen El-Quasem also recorded seven points and five rebounds for WSU.
The game was close midway through the opening half as a Biondolillo lay-up made the score 13-10 at the 8:06 mark.
Worcester State freshman Cheyenne Jennings connected for a jumper to get within one with 6:07 remaining (13-12), but then Springfield would go on a 10-0 run as they were sparked by a three-pointer by Biondolillo to take over a solid 23-12 advantage 2½ minutes later.
After El-Quasem ended the drought with a traditional three-point play to cut into the lead, Slattery and freshman Jaime Bickelhaupt notched back-to-back field goals for the 27-15 advantage at the intermission.
Coming out of the locker room, the Pride would balloon the lead up 41-17 with 16:41 left on the clock for their largest advantage of the game.
Six minutes later, Springfield would continue to hold the 20-plus point margin (44-22) before the Lancers would go on a 7-2 surge to trail by 17 at the halfway point (46-29), but that was as close as they would get for the remainder of the contest as the visitors cruised ahead for their first victory of the season.
The Pride shot a blistering 49 percent for the game (26-for-53) while they were also 6-for-12 from three point land. Springfield also distributed the ball well as 17 of their 26 field goals were assisted.
Worcester State had a poor night around the basket as they connected for just 28 percent for the contest (14-for-51). Despite that fact, they were 12-for-16 from the free throw line and had the final lead in offensive boards (10-5).
Both squads were even in rebounding (33-33) as the Pride had the 18-11 advantage in points off of turnovers.
Springfield is back in action on Friday night when it plays Trinity at 7:30 pm in the Bridgewater State Invitational.
Entering her 23rd season as head coach in 2013-14, Naomi Graves has directed her squads to an impressive 323-260 record (.554 winning percentage) since joining the Division III ranks in 1995. Graves has led the Pride to 12 post-season bids in the past 17 years, including five berths in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
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