Women's Basketball vs. No. 16/12 Smith
Wednesday, January 17 | 7 p.m.
Staake Gymnasium | Babson Park, Mass. 

SERIES HISTORY
•    Babson is 40-16 all-time against Smith in a series that dates back to the 1982-83 campaign.
•    The Beavers have lost four straight and six of their last seven games against the Pioneers going back to 2018.
•    The Green and White has gone 12-2 against Smith inside Staake Gymnasium since 2010.

LAST MEETING
•    Ally Yamada led three players in double figures with 16 points and Smith closed the game with a 14-2 run to defeat Babson, 67-52, in the NEWMAC Tournament final on February 26, 2023, in Northampton, Mass.
•    Katelyn Pickunka finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three assists, while Morgan Morrison added 14 points and 10 boards for the Pioneers, who shot 48.1 percent. 
•    Senior Kelly Walsh registered 21 points, six rebounds and four steals and Samantha Smith '23 added 12 points and four boards for the Beavers, who were held to just 17 seconds-half points after trailing 36-35 at the break. 

SCOUTING THE BEAVERS
•    Babson (6-9, 0-1 NEWMAC) has dropped two straight games after suffering a 78-64 loss at Emerson in its conference opener on Saturday. 
•    Junior Katelyn Mollica and first-year Samantha Reale both scored 16 points and junior Camilla Silk added 12 points and a season-high nine rebounds for the Beavers, who were outscored 25-12 over the final five-plus minutes of the game. 
•    Walsh (18.0 pts, 4.6 reb, 4.3 ast) has missed the last six games due to injury, Mollica (13.2 pts, 3.5 reb) is shooting 42.6 percent from three-point range and leads the team with 23 steals, and Reale (8.6 pts, 3.7 reb) has averaged 11.5 points on 44.6 percent shooting over the last six contests. 
•    The Green and White is holding opponents to 34.5 percent shooting and has allowed 64 points or fewer in nine of its last 11 outings.

SCOUTING THE PIONEERS
•    No. 16 D3hoops/No. 12 WBCA Smith (12-2, 1-0 NEWMAC) has won 35 straight games against league foes after edging WPI, 82-78, to open conference play on Saturday. 
•    Yamada scored 21 points, Hannah Martin added 16 points and six steals and Jessie Ruffner finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for the Pioneers, who went in front for good on a layup by Sofia Rosa with 4:38 to go in the contest. 
•    Rosa (14.9 pts, 7.5 reb), who returned to the court after spending last season as an assistant coach at MIT, has posted five double-doubles, Yamada (14.7 pts, 2.1 ast) is shooting 40.4 percent from beyond the arc and Ruffner (14.0 pts, 8.9 reb, 4.3 ast) ranks fifth in Division III shooting 60.9 percent from the floor on the year. 
•    Smith ranks first in Division III in field goal percentage (50.6), 12th in scoring offense (79.6 points) and 19th in rebounding margin (+9.6). 

BEAVER BITES
•    Mollica is tied for the NEWMAC lead with 42 three-pointers and has made at least one in all 15 games this winter. She also needs just two more to become the fourth player in Babson history with 100 career triples.
•    Senior Madison Odam made her first start of the winter at Emerson and finished with three points, three rebounds, three assists and one steal in 19 minutes. 
•    Despite being held scoreless in Saturday's loss at Emerson, sophomore Chloe Perreault grabbed eight boards and is averaging 6.7 rebounds over the last six games, while Silk has pulled down 7.0 caroms in her last four contests. 
•    Walsh, who has not played since December 5, scored 20 or more points in five of her final six outings leading into the semester break. 

SUCCESS INSIDE STAAKE
•    The Beavers are 3-2 at home this season, which includes a 60-42 victory over then No. 21/18 Tufts back on January 7. 
•    In five home games this year, Babson has limited its foes to just 47.0 points on 27.7 percent shooting from the floor and 21.7 percent from three-point range. 
•    The Green and White also owns a +4.8 rebounding margin has made 7.4 three-pointers per outing inside Staake Gymnasium this winter. 

REVISITING THE PRESEASON POLL
•    After finishing second in the regular season standings and making a run to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight last winter, Babson was picked to finish third in the NEWMAC preseason coaches' poll behind defending champions Smith and second-place MIT back in October. 
•    The Beavers have finished first or second in conference play in seven consecutive seasons and have not finished outside the top three since 2014, when they placed fifth.
•    Going back to 2010, either Babson or Smith has captured at least a share of the NEWMAC regular season title in every season but 2015 when Springfield finished atop the league standings. 

NUMBERS TO KNOW
•    The Beavers are 5-1 this season when shooting at least 40 percent. 
•    Babson is 4-0 this winter and has won its last 11 games going back to last February when scoring at least 65 points. 
•    The Green and White is 6-2 this year and 24-3 since the start of last season when outrebounding its opponents. 
•    The Beavers are 6-1 on the season when leading entering the fourth quarter. 

UP NEXT
•    Babson hosts Salve Regina on Saturday at 1 p.m.