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Northampton, MA: In the season opener for both teams, the Pioneers defeated Mitchell College this afternoon 68-64 in a come-from-behind victory in the Tyler Memorial Tip Off game. Smith sophomore guard Jessica Welk (Arlington, WA) led all scorers with 22 points, and Jen Iglesias (Waterbury, CT) led the Mariners with 18 points.
The Pioneers took an early 4-0 lead in the opening minutes on baskets by Welk and Anna Veltri (West Milford, CT) but Iglesias tied it up with back-to- back hoops. Welk and Meredith Murelli (Litchfield, CT) put the Pioneers ahead 8-4 but Iglesias answered with another two-pointer and Miah Manning (Putnam, CT) scored to tie the game at eight. The lead exchanged six times over the next seven minutes when Mitchell's Destiney Harris (Bristol, CT) sank a three-pointer to give the visitors a 23-19 advantage. The Mariners extended their lead to seven but with just two seconds left in the half, junior Courtney Parker (Ocean City, MD) scored to end the half (35-30).
Murelli opened the second half with a basket to bring Smith within three (35-32) but hoops by Iglesias and Brittany Smyth (Winsted, CT) extended Mitchell's lead to eight. The Mariners maintained that spread until the 14 minute mark when Lisa Marie Vuono (Lyndhurst, NJ) and Berit Schelde (Holstebro, Denmark) combined for eight points to tie the game with 11:04 remaining. The game was tied three times over the next three minutes when Iglesias tallied to give Mitchell a 56-54 lead. Welk answered with a free throw to close to within one but Bianca Young (Bridgeport, CT) converted a three-pointer to extend the lead to three. Murelli answered with a basket for Smith to bring the Pioneers to within one once again but Young tallied another basket to give the Mariners a 60-57 lead with 6:12 left. Welk scored for Smith with 4:01 remaining and Alix O'Neil (New London, CT) scored with 2:23 left for Mitchell (62-59). Over the next minute and a half, Welk, Vuono and Murelli combined for six points to put Smith up 65-62 with :53 remaining. Young sank two free throws for Mitchell to close within one (65-64) but Schelde and Welk scored in the remaining seconds to give the Pioneers their first win of the season.
Welk was the leading scorer for Smith with 22 points while Vuono added 11 and Murelli tallied a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bianca Young and Brittany Smyth chipped in 9 points each for Mitchell.
Mitchell will be in action again on Tuesday, November 18 when they travel to Regis College for a non-conference contest.
