Women’s basketball: Smith College overcomes early deficit to claim 6th straight NEWMAC title

NORTHAMPTON — The Smith College women’s basketball team won its sixth consecutive NEWMAC Championship on Sunday afternoon, coming back to defeat Clark University 72-65.

Despite coming into the championship matchup with just one loss on the season, the Bears were outplayed by the Cougars to start the contest. Clark’s defensive pressure helped to make things hard for its opponent, while shooting an efficient 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the field and 4-of-6 from three to get out to a 27-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Bears and their home crowd seemed a bit shocked at how things started on Sunday, with the team benefiting from the end of the quarter, giving them time to reset. The break, along with a few defensive adjustments, allowed the group to slowly start to settle in.

“We had to keep our composure, and continue to make adjustments as the game was going on,” Smith head coach Lynn Hersey said. “And ultimately, I think the experience of being in this moment helps us to stay the course, and be able to rely on each other each possession.”

Although they had more success in the second quarter, the Bears entered the half down 40-34. The momentum was increasingly tipping toward their side, with the sold-out Ainsworth Gymnasium getting louder down the stretch.

The Cougars were relentless defensively through the first two quarters, creating nine steals and playing physical at the point of attack. Smith found success slowing the game down, while battling to contest shots on the defensive end.

At the half, the Bears gathered themselves, with the team’s veteran leaders making sure that everyone was on the same page.

“We were built for these moments,” Hannah Martin said of the message in the locker room. “We’ve just got to take care of the ball. We’re the more experienced team than they were, so just telling ourselves to trust our body of work and just stay calm… We just had to stay within ourselves.”

After chipping away a little more in the third quarter, Smith took the lead for the first time with seven minutes to play in the fourth. The Bears locked in defensively as time ticked off the clock, with the Cougars only making one shot from the field for an eight-minute chunk of the final quarter of play.

On the other end, Smith had its highest scoring quarter of the afternoon, tallying 22 points in large part due to nine free throws. Outscoring their opponents by 11 through the final 10 minutes, the Bears extended the lead, with the final buzzer marking their sixth time cutting the nets to end NEWMAC play in a row.

“For me, it’s got a lot of emotion and meaning, because there are a lot of teams who were in this moment [Sunday], who came through for the school and for our program,” Hersey said. “To think back to all of them, and then be present here [Sunday] with this current team; It just brings me a lot of pride.”

Martin’s composure despite facing the early deficit was evident as the second half got underway, with the junior saving her best for when it mattered most. First, it was her defense, aggressively attacking ball-handlers and generating turnovers.

With 10 points through the first 30 minutes of play, Martin flipped a switch to begin the fourth quarter. Knocking down four shots and five free throws in the final frame for a 15-point quarter, Martin finished the game with a career high 25 points, adding five rebounds and four steals and winning MVP of the contest in the process.

“We went into the fourth quarter down, and I was like, ‘We’ve got 10 minutes left. This is crunch time,'” Martin said. “… We’re built for these moments. This is what our team trains for every day. We’re not afraid of these moments; we run towards it. I knew I had to do anything I could to get our team to win, and that was being aggressive on offense, but also shutting people down on defense.”

Virginia Johnson played a huge role in Smith’s comeback victory as well, stringing together a two-minute stretch in the second quarter where the junior caught fire from deep. Knocking down a trio of 3-pointers, Johnson helped shift the momentum in the building in her team’s favor.

As the final buzzer sounded, Johnson tallied 19 points while dominating on the glass and the defensive end. On top of her near-season high scoring night, the junior added 11 rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Throughout their 27-1 start to the season, the Bears haven’t had many opportunities where they’ve been tested like they were on Sunday. With the NCAA Tournament next up on the docket, Smith will look to build off the big win while chasing their first national championship.

“I think we needed that heading into the NCAA Tournament, all of those games are going to be possession by possession,” Hersey said. “We needed a challenge. We needed to feel some of the pressure of playing from behind and having a lot to lose. I like how we responded.

“It’s something that we can build from moving forward,” Hersey continued. “Every game coming up is going to be win or go home. We’re gonna have to learn how to claim those moments and trust the body of work that we have produced throughout the whole season.”