Northampton, Mass. - Smith College erased an early 13 point deficit with a dominant third quarter and then held on in the fourth enroute to a 74-66 win over Clark University in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the Pioneers improve to 11-14 overall and 7-9 in conference play, while the Cougars see their season end at 6-19 – their second straight campaign without reaching double figure wins.

For the hosts, Kennedy Guest-Pritchett (Fairburn, Ga.) scored a game-high 22 points and added 15 rebounds and three steals, while Paige Marquez (San Francisco, Calif.) produced 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while dishing out five assists.

Sam O'Gara (Worcester, Mass.) and Ogechi Ezemma (Hope Valley, R.I.) each finished with 13 points for the Cougars. O'Gara added four assists, three boards and two steals, while Ezemma hauled in 13 rebounds to record the fourth double-double of her inaugural campaign. Meanwhile, Kacey Legare (Chicopee, Mass.) added ten points, four rebounds and three steals and Sami Dokus (Littleton, Mass.) came off the bench to finish with 12 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting and seven boards.

Clark jumped out to a 14-8 lead at the end of the first quarter as the Cougars ended the period on a 7-0 run. A Dokus' jumper gave the visitors a 21-8 edge 1:16 into the second, but the Pioneers regrouped and closed out the half on a 16-1 run powered by Sam Alakai's nine points to go into halftime leading 24-22.

Smith went on to outscore Clark 27-11 in the third quarter to open up a 51-33 lead heading into the fourth. Clark would not go away as a three-pointer from Cori Ouellette (Madison, Conn.) cut the deficit to 10 (64-54) with 4:02 remaining in the fourth quarter and Dokus scored five-straight points to pull the Cougars within eight (67-59) with 2:16 left to play. 

A three-pointer by Marquez officially put the game out of reach with 1:00 on the clock and the Pioneers leading, 72-60.

Clark held a 42-39 advantage on the glass in the contest, while the Pioneers shot 42.4 percent from the field to just 34.9 percent for the Cougars.

The Pioneers will be riding a season-high four-game win streak as they travel to WPI on Wednesday for the first round of the NEWMAC playoffs.