No. 8 Emerson 59, No. 1 Smith 80 – Final 

The top-seed Smith College basketball team rallied from a 13-point first quarter deficit and prevailed 80-59 Wednesday evening over No. 8 seed Emerson (14-12) in NEWMAC Quarterfinal action at Ainsworth Gymnasium.

The Bears (25-1) survive and advance to host the No. 5 seed Springfield College Pride in the NEWMAC Semifinals Friday at 7:00pm. 

The game commenced with the Lions establishing an early lead, as Lindsay Gould scored a three-pointer at the 9:28 mark. Emerson's Bri Frongillo contributed significantly to the visitors' scoring with three 3-pointers, extending their advantage. Virginia Johnson responded with a layup at 8:33, assisted by Hannah Martin, but the home team struggled to close the gap. Kate Hackney provided some momentum for the Bears with a layup followed by a successful free throw at 2:12, narrowing the score to 19-9. However, Emerson's Kaylin O'Meara quickly countered with a layup, maintaining their lead. The first quarter concluded with a fast-break layup by Martin, yet the Bears trailed 21-11.

Smith took control in the second quarter with an efficient offensive display, outscoring the Lions 26-6. Mya Williams set the tone early with a jumper at 9:48, assisted by Martin. Johnson contributed with a layup at 4:00, assisted by Uta Nakamura, to push the Bears ahead. Martin capped off the quarter with a three-pointer at the buzzer, assisted by Johnson, extending Smith's lead. The Bears' defense was equally impressive, limiting the Lions to just two field goals and forcing multiple turnovers to head into halftime up 37-27.

Smith pulled away from Emerson with a strong third quarter, outscoring the visitors 23-13. Johnson led the charge for the Bears, opening up with a jumper at 7:21 before sinking a 3-pointer at 6:46. Williams added a layup at 5:26 before Emerson's Gould managed to sink a three-pointer at 9:32 and another late in the quarter at 2:35, but it was not enough to close the gap. Nakamura capped off the period with a three-pointer as time expired, putting Smith ahead 60-40.

The Bears maintained their lead in the fourth quarter, securing an 80-59 victory over the Lions. Ella Sylvester contributed early with a layup at 9:22, assisted by Felicia Fongemie, extending the home team's advantage. Emerson's Gould responded with a three-pointer at 7:37, but Smith's consistent scoring, including layups from Johnson and Martin, kept the pressure on. Alina Abdulina's fast-break layup, assisted by Nakamura with 23 seconds remaining, capped the scoring for the hosts, ensuring a decisive win.

Smith shot 55% from the floor and 66.7% from three-point range. The Lions went 22-of-55 from the field and 13-of-38 from long distance. The Bears outrebounded Emerson 29-21 and scored 31 points off 22 turnovers from the visitors. 

No. 7 Coast Guard 68, No. 2 Babson 92 – Final 

Sophomore Rylie Rosenberg scored a career-high 23 points to lead four players in double figures as second-seeded Babson College cruised to a 92-68 win over the seventh-seeded Coast Guard Academy in a NEWMAC Tournament quarterfinal on Wednesday night inside Staake Gymnasium.
 
Babson, which has won nine of its last 10 games, improves to 18-8 overall and advances to the conference semifinals for the 16th time in the last 17 tournaments. Coast Guard sees its season come to a close at 13-13. 
 
Rosenberg knocked down a career-high seven three-pointers and finished 8-of-13 from the field to go along with four assists, while sophomore Julia St. Laurent scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting for the Beavers. Senior Allessia Carlo added 12 points, first-year Alyssa Hopps contributed 10 points and eight rebounds, and graduate student Emily Flynn and senior Chloe Perreault chipped in with nine points apiece. Perrault tied for game-high honors with eight boards, while Flynn finished with seven caroms and handed out five dimes.
 
Sophomore Olivia Wright scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the third quarter and also provided five steals. Senior Taylor Lynch finished with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, and classmate Dorothy Stotts chipped in with 13 points to pace the Bears.
 
The Green and White scored on eight of its first 12 possessions to race out to a 19-11 advantage and got a third three-pointer from Rosenberg and a bucket inside by Hopps to up its lead to 24-13 with 31 seconds left in the opening stanza. Rosenberg and Carlo buried back-to-back triples to give the Beavers a 30-15 edge, their largest of the first half, with 8:10 to go in the second quarter before Coast Guard answered with an 8-1 spurt that cut the deficit to 31-23 at the 5:59 mark. 
 
Carlo answered with a hoop, Rosenberg splashed in her fourth triple of the half, and Perreault canned a trifecta from the right wing to extend the margin back to 15, less than a minute before the break, and Babson scored on its first six possessions of the third quarter to build a 54-35 advantage on two free throws by Perreault. The Bears responded with a 14-6 run to get as close as 60-49 on a three-pointer by sophomore Colleen Finnegan with 3:03 to go in the quarter, but were unable but Rosenberg and Flynn answered with three-pointers, and sophomore Alessa Mendoza hit a mid-range pullup as the hosts stretched their cushion back to 70-55 going to the fourth.
 
The Beavers put the game away early in the fourth with points on seven of their first nine possessions, and took their first 20-point lead of the night at 86-66 on a layup by sophomore Mary Kate Flynn with 3:51 remaining. 
 
Babson shot a season-best 56.9 percent from the field and 11-of-18 from three-point range (61.1 percent) while outscoring Coast Guard 46-20 in the paint. The Beavers also finished with a 42-21 advantage on the glass. The Bears shot 44.4 percent from the field in the loss. 
 
Babson will now host third-seeded Clark in a NEWMAC Tournament semifinal on Friday at 5 p.m.

No. 6 WPI 53, No. 3 Clark 65 – Final 
 
'The No. 3 Clark University women's basketball team (18-8) competed in their 21st NEWMAC Tournament in program history when they welcomed WPI (15-11) down Park Ave and registered a 65-53 victory over the Engineers on Wednesday night from the Kneller Gymnasium.

This marked the Cougars' first NEWMAC Tournament victory since 2017 when they topped Springfield.

No. 3 Clark will return to the court on Friday night when they travel to No. 2 Babson in the NEWMAC Semifinal.        

The Engineers jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, sparked by three points from Ava Hyams and Leila Nielsen, with the Clark point coming from first-year Atiya Watson before sophomore Cyriah Coleman hit a triple to cut the deficit to 6-4.

Clark ended the quarter on an 11-8 run led by four points from Watson, three from first-year Karilyn Perez-Guerrero, and buckets from Coleman and junior Olivia Shipley as the Cougars took a 15-12 lead into the second quarter.

Coleman scored Clark's first five points of the second, and a layup from junior Kailey Rios pushed the advantage to seven before a layup from Emmy Allyn cut the deficit back to five at 22-17 with 6:58 to go in the quarter.

Watson and junior Catherine Antwi scored the next four points of the game, and before the half, Allison Fullem and Kayla Goldrick scored five points, and Watson made a layup as the Cougars took a 28-22 lead into the break.

Shipley and junior Emma Drefs netted the first four points of the third, and a triple from Antwi pushed the scarlet and white's lead to 36-26 with 5:51 to go in the quarter.

Fullem and Giansiracusa combined for five points in the middle of the quarter before Watson and first-year Leilani Benson scored four points and a jumper from Fullem with 2:55 remaining cut the deficit to seven at 40-33.

Junior Mia Mabanag and Rios scored four points before the end of the quarter as the scarlet and white pushed their lead to 44-35 entering the fourth.

Neilsen and Hyams netted four points to open the fourth to make it a six-point game before Antwi connected on a triple as Clark took a 49-40 advantage early in the fourth.

Drefs converted an and-one and four unanswered points from Neilsen as the Cougars held a 52-46 lead with 6:47 to play.

Clark responded with six unanswered points as Watson, Shipley, and Benson all scored to push the lead to double-digits before Hyams and Fullem combined for five points as the Cougars took a 58-51 edge with 3:40 remaining.

Shipley and Giansiracusa combined for the next four points of the contest before Coleman, Watson, and Rios hit five free throws down the stretch as the scarlet and white prevailed 65-53.

No. 5 Springfield 64, No. 4 MIT 50 - Final 

The fifth-seeded Springfield College women's basketball team avenged a loss from last week to defeat fourth-seeded MIT in the opening round of the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament on Wednesday night, 64-50. 

Springfield improves to 16-10 overall while MIT drops to 14-12. 

Amanda Leary led Springfield with 22 points, nine rebounds, and four assists while Carrie Hess had 15 points. Claire Finney had 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists as Madison Lopez had five rebounds and four steals. 

Springfield shot 41.4 percent (23-for-56) from the floor while MIT shot 31.7 percent (19-for-60) as the Pride had 32 points in the paint and held a 37-31 edge off the glass. 

The Pride took an early 12-2 lead through the first five minutes of the first quarter, powered by six points from Hess. MIT had the final four points of the quarter to close the gap as Springfield led 17-8 going into the second quarter. Springfield shot 43.8 percent from the floor and had four more rebounds than the Engineers.

Both teams exchanged a few baskets to begin the quarter as Springfield led 23-12, but a 10-2 run from MIT saw the Engineers working on a comeback to make it a three-point game. The final two minutes only saw five total points between both teams as the Pride held on to the lead going into the halftime break, 30-24. 

Springfield scored the first two baskets of the third quarter before MIT went on a 7-0 run to make it 35-31 and left the Pride scoreless for almost two minutes. It didn't affect the Pride as Springfield had an answer and went on a run themselves to outscore the Engineers 11-3 to end the quarter with a 12-point lead at 46-34.

The Engineers didn't let up in the fourth quarter, but the Pride shot a game-high 55.6 percent from the floor, grabbed five more rebounds than MIT, and Leary and Ruth Boles combined for 12 points to power Springfield to the win, 64-50. 

Springfield will head to top-seeded No.5/7 Smith on Friday at 7:00 pm for the semifinal round of the NEWMAC Tournament.

About the NEWMAC

The NEWMAC is an association of 12 selective academic institutions: Babson College, Clark University, U.S Coast Guard Academy, Emerson College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mount Holyoke College, Salve Regina University, Smith College, Springfield College, Wellesley College, Wheaton College, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute, that are committed to providing high quality competitive athletic opportunities for student-athletes within an educational and respectful environment that embodies the NCAA Division III Philosophy. The conference also partners with eight Associate Members: Brandeis University (Women's Lacrosse, 2026-2027), New York University (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), Norwich University (Football), Simmons College (Rowing), SUNY Maritime College (Football), SUNY New Paltz (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Football), and Vassar College (Men's Volleyball, 2026-2027), while sponsoring 20 sports.