Springfield Advances Past Brandeis to Friday's Quarterfinals
Ryan Simmons
TOURNAMENT PAGE
By Ryan Simmons
SPRINGFIELD, MASS. – The Springfield Pride got off to a hot start and held off a furious second-half rally by visiting Brandeis to win 58-46 in the opening round of the ECAC Women’s Basketball Tournament on Feb. 28.
Springfield took command in the early going, jumping out to a 19-4 advantage at the end of the opening quarter behind seven points from Alex Goslin.
Brandeis rallied in the next two stanzas.
The Judges played The Pride within one point in the second quarter, scoring eight points while holding Springfield to only nine.
The third frame saw Brandeis silence the home crowd. The Judges outscored the Pride 20-9 in the quarter, cutting the lead to five points at 37-32. Katherine Puda led the charge, scoring 8 of her 10 points in the third quarter.
It would prove to be as close as Brandeis would come in the contest.
Springfield got a big 3-pointer from Lauren Rudolph to push the lead to eight points with 9:54 left in the contest. Another trey from Alex Goslin would put the lead at 11 with 9:04 to go.
Katie Goncalo stopped the early bleeding with a layup that cut the Springfield lead to nine. The teams would battle back-and-forth for the bulk of the period. Brandeis would twice cut the lead to eight but could draw no closer.
Goslin sealed the deal for The Pride by going 7-of-8 at the charity stripe down the stretch to preserve the lead, eventually giving Springfield the victory. She led all scorers in the contest with 19, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter.
Puda and Noel Hodges paced the Judges with 10 points each.
Springfield’s Gracie Restituyo led all rebounders with nine. Three Bradeis players tallied 5 rebounds each to lead their squad.
The win sends Springfield (19-8) into the quarterfinals on Friday against Stevenson, who advanced after a 68-51 win over Rutgers-Camden. The game will be played at Washington and Jefferson College (Pa.)
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