Luke Whitehouse
@Lwhitehouse12
With about three minutes left in the second quarter, Springfield was clinging to a one-point lead over Babson.
Up top that point, the large crowd that gathered inside Blake Arena was silent.
It was clear, with the stands filled, that they were going to be a factor at some point.
A few moments later, the crowd erupted into a frenzy after an and-one from Springfield guard Jaélen Daubon. Daubon went up for the layup and took a hard foul as she fell to the ground, giving the Pride a three-point lead at the time, with her free throw making it four.
From that point on, the home-court advantage was evident, as the home fans were in tune with everything that was happening. The energy may have partially been a factor for Babson, as the Beavers were outscored by the Pride in each of the final three quarters.
“It was crazy,” senior guard Rachel Vinton said. “There were a lot of fans, and you could see and feel them throughout the game.”
The second quarter for Springfield － in which they scored 18 points － proved pivotal as it found its offensive rhythm from there on out. The Pride cruised to a 71-61 win over No. 9 Babson, avenging their loss to the Beavers earlier in the season.
The Pride, who came into the game off of a tough loss to M.I.T on Wednesday, looked like a totally different team.
“We just slowed down on offense, which led to better decisions,” head coach Naomi Graves said. “We were going way too fast against M.I.T. and that’s where mistakes came.”
Decision-making on offense was a huge part of the Pride’s success as they dished out 16 assists, while only accounting for six turnovers.
“We’ve really been stressing the way we’re going to win is taking care of the basketball,” Graves said.
Along with cracking down on turnovers, the Pride shared the basketball, as four players reached double figures in points: Vinton (18 points), Sam Hourihan (14 points), Angela Czeremcha (12 points) and Daubon (11 points).
“This was a team win,” Graves said. “Everybody scored…and that’s how we’re going to win.”
Coming into the game, Babson averaged just over 70 points per game, en route to being undefeated in conference play and having a 16-2 overall record.
The Pride knew this wasn’t going to be an easy opponent and just making shots wasn’t going to be enough.
They needed pure grit.
And from the tip, you could see it.
Everywhere you looked, a white jersey was diving for a loose ball, jumping up to grab an offensive rebound, or poking away the ball to create a turnover.
“It’s all effort,” Graves said. “We tried to be present on every possession and make hustle plays, getting the extra rebound, it shows what this team is capable of.”
The Pride will look to build off this win down the stretch with just six games remaining.
“We’re going to build off this,” Graves said. “ We’re gonna have high standards (the rest of the season) and I’ve been telling (the team) you are such a good team when you play together.”
Vinton echoed these sentiments:
“It sets the expectation,” she said. “We want to play like this every game, and now we know we can going forward.”
Springfield improves to 13-6 on the season and will travel to Worcester on Wednesday, Feb. 1, to take on Clark University as the Pride continue into conference play.
Photo: Springfield College Athletics