No. 14/16 Women's Basketball at No. 5/5 Smith
Saturday, February 11 | 2:00 p.m.
Ainsworth Gym | Northampton, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Beavers are 40-14 all-time against Smith in a series that dates back to the 1982-83 season.
• Babson has dropped four of their last five games to the Pioneers since 2018.
• The Green and White are 11-4 at Ainsworth Gym over the past two decades but have lost the past two and four of the last seven since 2014.

LAST MEETING
• Junior Jessie Ruffner scored 15 of her game-high 21 points in the first half as No. 17 D3hoops.com/No. 19 WBCA Smith defeated visiting Babson, 68-46, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament final on February 27, 2022 inside Ainsworth Gym.
• Senior Megan Bauman scored a team-high 14 points, while sophomore Abby Miller contributed eight points in the fourth quarter for the Beavers. Senior Samantha Smith and juniors Kelly Walsh and Rachel McMenemy all finished with six points in the loss.
• Ruffner went 10-of-14 from the floor and added 10 rebounds and six assists, while graduate student Katelyn Pickunka added 11 points and 10 boards in just 21 minutes for the Pioneers. Classmate Dashelle Gleissner scored 10 points and led all players with eight assists in the victory.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 14/16 Babson (19-3, 6-1 NEWMAC) has won three in a row and 12 of its last 14 after a 77-49 victory at Wellesley on Wednesday.
• Bauman scored a team-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting and added six assists and four steals for the Beavers, while Smith posted her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points (on 5-of-8 shots) and 12 rebounds and added five assists and four blocked shots in the win.
• Bauman (13.7 pts, 5.6 ast, 3.8 reb) ranks eighth in Division III in assists, Smith (11.6 pts, 8.0 reb, 2.4 blocks) is 28th in Division III in blocked shots, and Walsh (10.0 pts, 4.2 reb) has scored in double figures in 13 of her 21 outings this season. Sophomore Katelyn Mollica (9.9 pts) has made at least one three-pointer in 11 of her last 12 games, shooting 44.4 percent from beyond the arc in that stretch.
• The Beavers lead the NEWMAC and are ranked 15th in Division III in assist/turnover ratio (1.13) and rank 27th in Division III in field goal percentage (42.9).

 SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
• No. 5/5 Smith (21-1, 7-0 NEWMAC) has won 15 in a row since suffering its only loss of the season to Framingham State, 78-74, back on December 3.
• Senior Morgan Morrison scored a game-high 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting to lead the Pioneers to a 74-56 win over Springfield on Wednesday. Pickunka notched her sixth double-double the year with 18 points and 11 rebounds and junior Ally Yamada chipped in with 14 points off the bench. Grad student Dashelle Gleissner dished out six assists and became the first player in program history to reach 500 career assists.
• Morrison (17.5 pts, 8.8 reb) tops the NEWMAC in scoring, rebounding and ranks second in FG percentage (57.6). Pickunka (10.5 pts, 8.2 reb) is tied for second in the league in rebounding and ranks fourth in FG percentage and Ruffner (10.0 pts, 5.7 reb), Yamada (9.9 pts) and junior Amelia Clairmont (9.1 pts) are also offensive threats.
• The Pioneers lead the NEWMAC in scoring with 72.7 points per game and rank fourth in the conference allowing just 56.1 points per outing.

BEAVERS VS. THE PIONEERS
• Bauman is averaging 16.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists while shooting 41.9 percent from the floor and 10-of-10 from the line in three career games against Smith.
• Smith is averaging 9.7 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 53.8 percent in three games against the Pioneers.

FREE THROW SUCCESS
• Bauman is 89-of-95 at the charity stripe this season and ranks first in Division III shooting 93.7 percent.
• Walsh is shooting 90 percent (45-of-50) and as a team, the Beavers rank 12th nationally at 75.3 percent.
• The Green and White are 13-2 this season when shooting at least 70 percent from FT line.

ROAD TEST
• The Beavers, who play two of their final three games of the regular season on the road, are 7-1 in opponent territory this season.
• Babson is 34-5 on the road against NEWMAC foes since 2016-17.

CLIMBING THE CHART
• Bauman needs just two points to become the 13th player in program history to score 1,100 points.
• With 10 more points, she can tie Linnett Graber '16 for 11th on Babson's career scoring chart.

BY THE NUMBERS
• The Beavers are 17-0 this season when holding their opponents below 40 percent shooting.
• Babson is 13-1 when outrebounding its foes this winter.
• The Beavers are 8-1 on the year and have won 26 of their last 27 games when forcing at least 18 turnovers.
• The Green and White is 14-0 this season and 265-1 over the last two years when holding its opponents below 60 points.

A LOOK AHEAD
• Babson will be back at Staake Gymnasium for its final regular season home game Wednesday against MIT at 7:30 p.m.