Women's Basketball vs. Springfield
Wednesday, February 19 | 7 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass.
SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 30-12 all-time against Springfield in a series that dates back to 1993.
• The Beavers have won seven of their last eight games against the Pride and each of the last four meetings going back to February 2018.
• Babson has won 11 of the last 12 games played inside Staake Gymnasium going back to 2008. The lone loss was a seven-point defeat in January 2018.
LAST MEETING
• Senior Katherine Tamulionis paced four players in double figures with a season-high 19 points to help Babson defeat the Pride, 64-52, in Springfield on January 11.
• Senior Emily Bonifacic scored 11 of her 13 points in the second half, while first-year Megan Bauman and junior Nicole Hiller added 12 and 11 points, respectively, for the Beavers, who closed the game with a 12-2 run.
• Senior Alex Goslin scored 11 points and sophomore Grace Dzindolet and Sam Hourihan added 10 points apiece for Springfield.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
• Springfield (17-6, 8-0 NEWMAC), which was sixth in the initial NCAA regional rankings, is coming off 67-61 win at MIT on Saturday.
• Senior Emily Jacques (20 points, 13 rebounds) and Hourishan (19 points, 13 rebounds) combined for 19 fourth-quarter points as the Pride rallied from a 10-point deficit with 8:43 to go in the game.
• Goslin (14.8 points, 4.7 reb, 3.8 ast) has reached double figures in 13 of the last 14 games, Jacques (12.8 pts, 5.6 reb) ranks ninth in the league in scoring, and Hourihan (10.6 pts, 9.4 reb) is averaging 13.8 points in NEWMAC play.
• Springfield ranks 21st in Division III in scoring defense allowing just 52.6 points per game.
SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• Babson (16-7, 8-0 NEWMAC), which was 12th in last week's regional rankings, has won its last eight games and is coming off a 104-33 drubbing of Mount Holyoke on Saturday.
• Bonifacic scored 18 points and both junior Christina Bonfiglio and first-year Caroline Clark added 17 points for the Beavers, who shot 56.8 percent against the Lyons.
• Bonifacic (15.4 pts, 8.5 reb) ranks second in scoring and fourth in the league in rebounding, Bauman (12.7 pts, 4.3 reb, 3.5 ast) leads all conference rookies in scoring and assists, and Tamulionis (9.6 pts, 2.8 ast) is shooting 56 percent over the last five games.
• Over its first eight games, the Green and White leads the conference in points per game (78.1) and rebounding margin (11.5).
WHAT'S AT STAKE
• With both Babson and Springfield entering the night at 8-0 in league play, the winner will secure at least a share of the NEWMAC regular season title and will not open the conference tournament until the semifinal round as the top seed.
• The loser of Wednesday's game will be seeded second and face a quarterfinal matchup next Wednesday.
BONIFACIC EARNS CONFERENCE RECOGNITION
• After averaging 16.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists in three wins, Bonifacic was selected as the NEWMAC Offensive Player of the Week on Tuesday.
• She shot 58.5 percent from the floor and has now scored in double figures in eight consecutive outings.
PIVOTAL AGAINST THE PRIDE
• Over her last four games against Springfield, Tamulionis is averaging 17.0 points on 61.1 percent shooting to go along with 3.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
• Additionally, Tamulionis has gone 21-of-22 at the free throw line (95.5 percent) during this stretch.
660 AND COUNTING
• Head coach Judy Blinstrub recorded the 660th victory of her career on Saturday tying her with longtime Southern Maine coach Gary Fifield for 14th place on Division III's all-time list.
NUMBER TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 15-1 this season and have won 37 of their last 39 games when outrebounding their opponents.
