No. 11/12 Women's Basketball at No. 4/5 Smith
NEWMAC Tournament Final
Sunday, February 26 | 1 p.m.
Ainsworth Gym | Northampton, Mass.

SERIES HISTORY
• Babson is 40-15 all-time against Smith in a series that dates back to the 1982-83 campaign.
• The Beavers have dropped five of the last six games in the series since 2018 but are 11-5 at Ainsworth Gymnasium over the last two decades.

POSTSEASON HISTORY
• Babson is 5-2 all-time against Smith in NEWMAC Tournament play and the teams will meet in the championship game for the second year in a row and fourth time overall on Sunday.
• The Beavers defeated the Pioneers at home to claim conference titles in 2011 and 2012, while Smith topped the Green and White in last year's title game.

LAST MEETING
• Senior Morgan Morrison led all players with 28 points and 15 rebounds and Smith rallied from a 14-point first-half deficit to defeat Babson, 80-67, on February 11.
• Junior Amelia Clairmont scored 17 points, sophomore Ally Yamada had 14 and junior Jessie Ruffner chipped in with 13 points and five assists for the Pioneers, who went 26-of-36 at the free throw line.
• Senior Megan Bauman scored 20 points and dished out five assists, while classmate Samantha Smith added 17 points and six boards for the Beavers, who shot 47.3 for the game.

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
• No. 11 WBCA/No. 12 D3hoops.com Babson (23-4) has won four straight games and advanced to its second consecutive championship game with a 77-66 victory over third-seeded MIT in Friday's semifinals.
• Junior Kelly Walsh finished with 20 points and five steals, Smith added 17 points and Bauman chipped in with 15 points and four assists for the Beavers, who shot 58 percent over the final three quarters.
• Bauman (14.2 pts, 5.6 ast, 3.7 reb) has scored in double figures in five straight games and ranks fifth in Division III in assists, Smith (12.7 pts, 7.6 reb, 2.1 blocks) is shooting 61.3 percent over the last five contests and Walsh (11.2 pts, 4.5 reb, 2.3 steals) is averaging 17.0 points over her last four outings.
• The second-seeded Green and White ranks first in the league in scoring offense (73.3 points), points per possession (1.02) and field goal percentage (44.5), and also is second in net efficiency outscoring opponents by 0.24 points per possession.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
• No. 4 D3hoops.com/No. 5 WBCA Smith (25-1) extended its winning streak to 19 and advanced to its third straight NEWMAC final with a 61-49 win over fifth-seeded Springfield on Friday night.
• Morrison had 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting to go along with 12 rebounds and four blocks and Clairmont canned three three-pointers on the way to scoring 15 points for the Pioneers, who shot 56.3 percent on the night.
• Morrison (17.3 pts, 9.1 reb) is shooting 58.3 percent and leads the conference in scoring and rebounding, Ruffner is averaging 10.0 pts, 5.8 reb and 3.8 assists, and Yamada (10.0 pts) is shooting 42.4 percent from three-point range.
• Top-seeded Smith ranks first in the NEWMAC in defensive efficiency (0.73 PPP) and net efficiency (0.26) and is second in scoring offense (72.9 points), field goal percentage (44.4) and points per possession (0.99).

ASSAULT ON THE RECORD BOOKS
• Bauman is first all-time in career (427) and single-season assists (152) and career free throw percentage (88.7) in addition to ranking fourth in three-point field goals (88), 11th in program history in scoring (1,180 points), 12th in made field goals (416) and made free throws (260) and 15th in career field goal percentage (45.0).
• Smith ranks fifth in Babson history with 113 blocked shots and her 56 rejections this winter are good for sixth on the Beavers' single-season list. She also ranks fifth on Babson's all-time field goal percentage list (50.4) and needs five more rebounds to reach 500 for her career.
• Junior Katelyn Mollica's 48 three-pointers are the most by a Babson player since 2013 and are fourth on the program's single-season list behind only Erin Young '15 (51 in 2011-12, 54 in 2012-13) and Joanna Maher '03 (56 in 2001-02).

TOURNAMENT TESTED
• Bauman averaged 15.0 points, 5.8 assists and 3.8 rebounds in five postseason games last winter, while Smith contributed 13.8 points on 57.7 percent shooting to go along with 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 blocks as Babson advanced to the NEWMAC Tournament final and the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
• Walsh averaged 10.2 points, junior Rachel McMenemy put up 6.4 points and grabbed 5.2 rebounds and junior Madison Odam chipped in with 4.8 points and 6.2 boards.
• Sophomore Camilla Silk averaged 14.6 minutes off the bench and shot 46.7 percent from the floor (7-of-15) and pulled down 3.8 rebounds.

PLANS FOR THE POSTSEASON
• The Green and White, which made its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017 last winter, was second behind Smith in last Wednesday's NCAA Region II rankings and was the seventh seed when the NCAA Division III selection committee released its Top 16 preview last Thursday.
• The Beavers are 10-4 against teams that appeared in last week's regional rankings, which includes victories over the top-ranked team in Region I (Tufts) and wins over five of the seven squads in Region II with its lone loss coming to Smith.

CHAMPIONSHIP TRADITION
• Head coach Judy Blinstrub, who ranks fourth among active coaches and 11th in Division III history with 716 wins, has led Babson to 10 conference championships since 1991.
• The Beavers have now reached the NEWMAC Tournament championship game 10 times since 2009 and 11 times overall going back to 1999 and have won eight titles during this stretch (1999, 2009-13, 2015, 2017).

FEBRUARY OFFENSIVE
• Over the last seven games, the Beavers are averaging 80.9 points and are shooting 51 percent overall and 42 percent from beyond the arc.
• Babson is scoring 1.10 points per possession during this stretch and averaging 21.5 first-quarter points outscoring its foes 172-86.

NUMBERS TO KNOW
• The Beavers are 20-0 this season when holding their opponents below 40 percent shooting.
• Babson is 16-1 on the year when outrebounding its foes.
• The Green and White is 22-1 when allowing fewer than 70 points.
• The Beavers are 21-3 this winter when scoring 60 points or more.
• Babson is 3-1 this season and 7-2 over the last two years in games decided by five points or less.