By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
Coming off two losses in a row – a lopsided defeat at the hands of powerhouse Smith College and then a tightly-fought loss against Wheaton – Springfield College women’s basketball needed a win on Wednesday night against Mount Holyoke in Blake Arena. And ideally, the win would be one of the stress-free, morale-boosting variety.
Once the ball was tossed high into the air for tip-off, it became clear very quickly that the Pride were well on their way towards checking off both of those boxes. They ultimately did, to the tune of a 65-43 victory.
Springfield came running out of the gates – literally. The Pride outscored the Lyons 27-5 in the opening frame, a mark defined by Springfield’s ability to push the pace in transition and establish offense on the interior.
Those two themes would dominate the remainder of the game, as well. In fact, Springfield’s only three-pointer of its 30 made field goals came on a deep buzzer-beater from junior guard Carrie Hess to conclude the first quarter.
Heading into the game, Springfield head coach Naomi Graves thought the Pride’s required a jolt, and the team’s ability to get out in transition early and often helped provide said spark.
“I think we needed a confidence boost and I think this is going to let us know that we can play and shoot and score,” Graves said. “I think we needed a game like this where everyone could feel a lot of positives and I think we got what we needed. I think our goal was to get in and run. We had scouted this team. We knew we could outmaneuver them, outrun them.”
The inside scoring element of the Pride’s game plan took shape early, too. The team’s three leading scorers on the night – senior forward Angie Czeremcha with 17 points, senior forward Lindsey Laughlan with 16 and Hess with 15 – all made their mark on the game in the first quarter.
Czeremcha echoed Graves’ assessment of what was working so well throughout the game for Springfield. Czeremcha’s ability to get out and run opened up opportunities for her to score in the paint, the hallmark of her game. Inside scoring was a defining aspect of the team’s win overall, as the Pride posted 38 points in the paint.
“Running the floor,” Czeremcha said. “And I was trying to be spaced out for my other posts so we could create some high-low action. I was trying to be the biggest target I could down there, and my guards and my posts were finding me really well.”
The ball movement that Czeremcha alluded to was yet another part of Springfield’s offense that was clicking throughout the game. The Pride crisply moved the ball, firing off nifty and decisive to passes to find open cutters and shooters on several occasions.
They ended the game with 23 assists compared to 13 turnovers, something Graves was hoping to see out of her team.
“Our goal was to have more assists than turnovers,” Graves said. “We haven’t been doing that. We’ve been having more turnovers than assists. So we weren’t sharing the ball. And that isn’t always selfish, it meant other people were just trying to win the game. I think we needed to realize that we can’t win without each other.”
After the Pride’s dominant opening quarter, they kept their foot on the gas and went into halftime holding a 41-16 lead. They never looked back from there.
Because Springfield had a significant lead, Graves was afforded the opportunity to give some younger players a chance to get in the game.
First-years Ruth Boles, Ella Stair, Madison Lopez and Chloe Derby all saw at least 11 minutes of action, and sophomore guard Izzy Pazzaglia made her Springfield debut. Graves was glad to mix a number of different players into the lineup and give them the chance to develop.
“We substituted early,” Graves said. “Everybody got a piece of the run game. I think we got quality minutes across the board. I think you need to get depth and our younger kids better.”
Czeremcha agreed, and she was thrilled to see the next wave of the Pride’s talent show what they are capable of. They were playing largely in place of Czeremcha and the other starters once the game was wrapped up in the latter stages.
“It makes me really happy,” Czeremcha said. “I know that they’re the next generation of players. We’re going out there every day trying to set the standard for their work ethic, and to see them execute plays and work hard is something that makes me so proud. I’m just happy that I get to see them succeed and I’m really glad they got the minutes.”
The Pride will look to carry this positive momentum into Saturday’s matchup on the road against WPI at 2 p.m.
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)