SPRINGFIELD – Springfield continued its defensive prowess in Saturday’s dominant 57-44 win over WPI. The Pride held the Engineers to just 44 points and 31.3% from the field.
A big reason for the stops was Springfield’s press defense – which required WPI to make fast decisions instead of the slow-pace offense that the Engineers like to play.
The Pride also found success on the offensive side, working into the paint early – scoring nearly half of their first-half points in the maroon box.
“We wanted to get the bigs the ball more,” Graves said.
Although Angela Czeremcha and Lindsey Laughlan only combined for 10 points, guards Amanda Leary and Jaélen Daubon were scoring at will, driving to the rim.
Leary focused more on driving the ball, and there was a reason for that.
“My shots haven’t been falling,” Leary said. “So I had to adjust to that and kind of let the game come to me and look to go downhill.”
Daubon on the other hand continued her offensive explosion – finishing in double digits for the third consecutive game, while going 3-4 from downtown.
“She’s confident and we’re confident with her,” Graves said. “Today she was feeling it. And the thing that I love about Jae is [her confidence].”
The insertion of Claire Finney into the starting lineup has forced Daubon to move to the four spot, yet she has found even more success in her new role, averaging 18 points on 53% shooting from the field and and 50% from beyond the arc in her last three contests.
Daubon and Leary, along with the Pride’s defense, gave Springfield a 37-22 lead at the half – controlling the pace on both ends of the floor.
But in the second, the Engineers tightened up – holding the Pride to just 20 second half points and 6-23 from the field.
After being up by as much as 20, the Pride held on to just an 11-point lead midway through the fourth until Leary came up big, again.
Despite not feeling her outside shots, Leary launched a three-pointer into the net to steal the momentum back.
“I shot it with confidence,” Leary said. “And I said to myself ‘it’s going in.’”
The problem for the Engineers was Springfield’s defense was even better – forcing the Engineers deep into the shot clock on almost every possession.
“It was a gritty win,” Graves said. “This team is good. To matchup and win by 16 is huge.”
The Pride entered a tough week ahead with road games against Salve Regina on Wednesday and Babson on Saturday.
Both present challenges, especially Salve Regina who’s campus is nearly three hours away.
“This week is a hard week for us,” Graves said. “We have not won at Babson in a long time and then with Salve, we’ve never played them nor traveled three hours midweek. [But we] take it one game at a time. Gotta get through Salve before Babson.”
The Pride improved to 17-4 overall, but most importantly 6-1 in the conference and sit a half game behind Smith for the top spot.
Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics