Luke Whitehouse
@Lwhitehouse12
The Springfield College women’s basketball team celebrated senior day on Saturday, Feb. 18, as they hosted Mount Holyoke College in their last regular season game of the year.
The Pride honored seniors Rachel Vinton and Sam Hourihan, as well as graduate student Xingrui Liu in the pregame festivities.
Springfield, led by its two seniors, Hourihan (14 points) and Vinton (13 points), cruised to a 78-26 victory.
“It was amazing (to get a win for our seniors),” Springfield head coach Naomi Graves said.
After halftime, Springfield didn’t let up either, as they outscored the Lyons 37-18. Sam Hourihan had 10 of her 14 points in the second half, while Angie Czeremcha compiled six points and nine boards in the second half alone.
The game was never close as Springfield never trailed at any point. The Lyons showed fight until the very end ﹣ even with the large deficit ﹣ scoring eight points in the final three and half minutes.
Despite the large margin, the Pride seemed to use this game as a stepping stone to work on some things as the postseason nears. Sharing the ball appeared to be at the top of the list, as everyone who entered the game had at least one field goal and they combined for 22 assists.
“We worked on executing rotations on offense,” Graves said. “We did a really good job at getting everyone involved.”
Springfield also dominated on the boards, out rebounding the Lyons 57-28 in that category as well. Hourihan (12), Czeremcha (10) and Amanda Leary (10) all finished with double-digit rebounds.
With the conference tournament on the doorstep, ending the season strong was very important. After a midseason slump, the Pride finished the regular season winning five of seven, including a win over nationally-ranked Babson.
Springfield will also carry a three-game win streak into postseason play, something Graves said is very important.
“We have the confidence we can play with anybody,” Graves said. “I think we’re really ready to move into the playoffs.”
Photo: Springfield College Athletics