NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – Smith College took the lead for good with seven straight points midway through the first quarter in the Bears' 66-54 non-conference win against the Hamilton College Continentals inside Smith's Ainsworth Gymnasium on Tuesday evening, Jan. 6.
Season Update
- Hamilton (8-6 overall) finished the non-conference part of its schedule.
- The Bears (11-0), who are members of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference, are ranked third in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Top 25 poll and fourth in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
How It Happened
- After Smith made the first basket, the Continentals went on a 9-3 run and took a 9-5 lead four minutes into the first quarter. Hamilton grabbed the early advantage on three-pointers by Erica Hills '28, Kendall Harris '27 and Hannah Bernstein '28.
- The Bears responded by scoring the next seven points and led the rest of the way. Virginia Johnson made it 12-9 on a three-pointer with 3:56 left.
- The Continentals pulled within two points twice before the end of the quarter, and Smith held a 16-12 edge after the opening 10 minutes. The Bears shot 6-of-11 from the field in the first.
- Smith's lead didn't grow larger than six points during the first eight minutes of the second quarter. Hamilton cut its deficit to two points at 23-21 on a layup by Zoe Myslewicz '28 with 4:33 remaining, and again at 25-23 after a Taylor Lambo '26 layup with less than three minutes to go.
- The Bears ran off the next nine points and went into the break with a 36-25 advantage.
- Smith led by double digits the entire second half. A layup by Uta Nakamura with 2:03 left in the third quarter gave the Bears their largest lead of 22 points at 55-33. They were up 55-34 going into the final 10 minutes.
- The Continentals made 9-of-14 field goal attempts and scored 20 points in the fourth quarter.
Notes
- Harris finished with 13 points and has scored in double figures in seven straight games.
- Hills chipped in 13 points and has 30 in her last two contests.
- Bernstein was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and ended up with 11 points.
- Lambo posted 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots. She is third in the NESCAC with 9.1 rebounds per game and third with 2.9 assists per contest.
- Hamilton shot 32 three-pointers, which was more than half of their 58 total field goal attempts.
- Smith made more free throws (13) than the Continentals attempted (eight).
- Mya Williams led the Bears with 16 points off the bench. Felicia Fongemie dropped in 13 points and Hannah Martin added 11 points and eight boards.
Next Game
Hamilton begins its conference slate at Bates College (11-1) on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 1 p.m.