By Tucker Paquette
@tpaquette17
Springfield women’s basketball fell to MIT in the NEWMAC tournament quarterfinals by a final score of 70-65 in overtime on Wednesday night in Blake Arena, in a game where the Pride were doomed by untimely turnovers and missed shots.
Those issues mostly manifested themselves down the stretch. The Pride turned the ball over four times in the final 3:09 of overtime, and shot 2-7 from the field in the extra five minutes of play. Overall, between the fourth quarter and overtime, Springfield shot 5-17 from the field with 10 turnovers.
Springfield head coach Naomi Graves believes the Pride’s challenges were as simple as having difficulty taking care of the ball.
“I’m disappointed in how we played in the overtime,” Graves said. “We made a lot of mistakes we shouldn’t have made. I told them that you can’t throw the ball away and have more turnovers in overtime and expect to win a basketball game.”
Second-half runs by both teams ultimately sent the game to overtime. The Pride embarked on a dominant 9-0 stretch to end the third quarter that was fueled by smothering defense and interior scoring, then the Engineers went on a blistering 13-2 run of their own to kick off the fourth quarter.
At this point, MIT held a three-point lead, but key baskets by sophomore guard Kassidy Carrano and senior forward Angie Czeremcha enabled the Pride to keep pace with the Engineers.
As regulation time ticked down, turnovers became an issue for both teams. The two squads combined for eight in the final 3:30 of the game, and neither team was able to tally crunch-time baskets as a result. The game went to overtime with the score knotted at 58.
For the Engineers, working their way inside was a clear focus down the stretch. 10 of their 12 points in overtime came at the free throw line as they tried to wear out the Pride by crashing the glass and frequently occupying the paint on offense.
Senior forward Kamsi Nwogu was a driving force for MIT’s offense throughout the game. She finished with a game-high 23 points and added 11 rebounds and three blocks in a game where she was a powerful force on the interior.
Senior guard Elise Harvey also played a key role for the Engineers in the win. She scored 16 points and went 7-7 at the charity stripe. Another one of MIT’s senior guards, Sarah Berman, made an impact at the free throw line in the waning stages of the game. She made four free throws in overtime, all of which came while the Engineers were pushing to build on their lead after Nwogu fouled out with 1:30 to go in the game.
For Springfield, Czeremcha was the team’s leading scorer in what was her final game with the Pride. She finished with 14 points, and she tallied five rebounds, too. Carrano also turned in a quality performance, headlined by 13 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists while serving as Springfield’s floor general, a role she grew into admirably as the season went on.
After the game, Graves acknowledged the youth on the team and commended first-year guards Madison Lopez and Ella Stair for their performances. Even though the Pride suffered a tough loss to end their season, Graves believes the program has a bright future led by an emerging young core of players.
“It’s a young team,” Graves said. “I think the good thing about it is we play a lot of young kids, so they have a taste for the tournament. There’s a lot of good that came out of this, and there’s a lot of things we need to work on.”
(Photo courtesy of Springfield College Athletics)