Springfield, Mass. – December 7, 2013 - The Springfield College women's basketball team continued its strong conference play, earning a 43-37 win over visiting Emerson on Saturday in Blake Arena.

It was the third-straight New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) win for the Pride, which improves to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in conference play. With the loss, Emerson drops to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in the NEWMAC.

Tamara Tribble (White Plains, N.Y.) had a big game for Springfield, notching a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. Jaimie Bickelhaupt (Brookfield, Conn.) led the Pride in scoring with a team-high 12 points. She also added seven boards and two steals.

The Pride got on the board first, 2:22 into the game on a basket by Tribble. With an 8-6 lead six minutes into the first half, Springfield went on a 5-0 run spanning 3:32 to make it a 13-6 game. Emerson's Catherine Cloutier (Methuen, Mass.) ended the drought, laying in a basket with 10:41 to go in the first.

Springfield went into the locker room with a 21-14 lead, its largest lead of the half. Tribble went 3-for-3 from the field for six points in the first while Bickelhaupt scored eight of her 12 points.

During the half, Springfield honored members of the school's very first women's varsity basketball team. It was the fourth event celebrating 50 years of women's varsity athletics at Springfield College.

The second half was back-and-forth, as the two teams exchanged baskets early on. The Pride never relinquished the lead though. Emerson came within four points, after Cloutier drained back-to-back free throws to make it a 27-23 game with 12:02 left on the clock.

The Pride slowly began to pull away after Tribble knocked down both of her free throws. Heather Lewis (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) extended the lead to eight with 10:15 to go on a nice jumper to the right of the foul line. Lewis finished the day with four points, three rebounds and three blocks.

Entering Saturday's game, Emerson's Kristin Brice (Indiana, Pa.) was averaging 17.3 points per game, good for second in the NEWMAC. The Pride defense was impressive, though, holding her to just two points, both coming from the foul line.

Springfield's Emily Taylor (West Springfield, Mass.) made it a 10 point game, sinking a baseline jumper with 6:25 left on the lock for a 35-25 lead.

Emerson made it interesting down the stretch, coming within five points in the final four minutes of the game. Janissa Delzo (Middlesex, N.J.) drained a three-pointer and two free throws and Kelsey Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) added two from the foul line to make it a 37-32 game.

Lewis came up with a big block with a four point lead and just 38 seconds left on the clock and Lexi Windwer (Milton, Mass.) iced it with two free throws with 18 seconds left on the clock to make it a 43-37 game.

Taylor finished the day with six points and four rebounds for Springfield. Andrea Moschetta (Harrison, N.Y.) and Danielle Racette (North Adams, Mass.) each dished out three assists for the Pride, which shot 19-for-59 (32.2%) from the field.

Emerson was led by Delzo, who matched Bickelhaupt for a game-high 12 points. She also added six boards. Brice led the Lions with eight rebounds while Johnson added seven boards and four points. Elizabeth Horan (Ashland, Mass.) finished the day with six points. Emerson shot just 8-of-50 (16.0%) from the field, but was 16-of-22 (72.7%) from the foul line.

The Pride's next game will be on the road on Friday at Worcester State. Emerson will be on the road on Tuesday at Lesley for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.