The Middlebury women's basketball team battled back from a halftime deficit but fell on the road to Smith in a back-and-forth game 65-59 on Tuesday night. Playing for the fourth time in the last eight days, Middlebury (10-7) continues its busy schedule when it returns home Thursday for a 6:00 p.m. game against Keene State.

Samantha Alakai paced Smith (6-10) with a team-high 15 points on 4-11 shooting from the field (6-7 FT) along with six rebounds. Meghan Holland added 13 points, six rebounds and six assists, while Amanda Barriscale grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

Middlebury's Sabrina Weeks notched a game-high 16 points that included a 7-13 effort from the field, while Rachel Crews had 13 points, four boards and a pair of blocks. Sarah Kaufman chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds, while Krystina Reynolds added nine points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.

The Pioneers went into the halftime break with a 27-17 lead. Middlebury came out strong at the beginning of the second half, utilizing a 14-6 run to cut its deficit to 43-41 on a Kaufman layup with 13:15 to play. Elizabeth Knox connected on both of her three-pointers during the spurt, while Reynolds and Weeks also added one basket each over the 6:45 span.

Smith wasted little time responding, as a jumper by Stephanie Soto-Rivera and a three by Alyssa Barrett highlighted a 9-2 run that pushed the Pioneers lead back to nine (42-33) with 11:15 remaining. The Panthers engineered a 10-0 run over a span of 3:25 with a three-pointer from Crews and a pair of free throws by Reynolds to spark the offensive outburst.

Holland immediately responded for Smith with a pull-up three from the top of the key with 7:20 left, giving the Pioneers a lead (47-45) they never surrendered.

Kaufman's third and fourth free-throws with 5:14 remaining in the contest put Middlebury down by a score of 50-48, but Smith went 11-12 from the free throw line and closed out the win.

The Pioneers held a 36-30 differential in rebounds and a 31-9 margin in bench points, while the Panthers possessed a slight 26-22 advantage in points in the paint.

Tuesday's game marked the second time this season the two teams played each other. Back on November 16 during the Tyler Tip-Off Tournament, the Panthers earned a 67-50 victory.