Middlebury suffered its first loss of the season at home (6-1), falling to Smith 60-45 on Monday evening in Pepin Gym. The Panthers (13-5) are off until Sunday when they host Trinity in a NESCAC contest at 2:00 p.m., while the Pioneers (13-4) will entertain MIT on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.

Smith jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening 5:44, capped by a layup from Paige Marquez. Middlebury cut the advantage to one (7-6) with 4:24 remaining, before the Pioneers went on a 10-2 run, leading 17-8 at the end of the first quarter.

Trailing 22-10 in the second quarter, the Panthers went on an 8-2 run at the 6:07 mark. Middlebury's Sabrina Weeks scored five of the eight points, cutting the deficit to 24-20 with 4:24 remaining. Smith later scored the last five points of the half, holding a 33-24 lead into the break.  

The Pioneers led by as many as 12 (36-24) in the third, before Middlebury put together a 6-0 spurt in the final 1:32 of the quarter. Weeks and Maya Davis each connected from long range, cutting the advantage to four (40-36).

Just 45 seconds into the final quarter, Davis made a layup to bring the Panthers to within two (40-38). Over the ensuing 6:31, the Pioneers put together a 14-3 run, making it 54-41 with 2:37 left on the clock.

Weeks led the Panthers with 13 points, while Davis netted nine and had seven rebounds. Colleen Caveney chipped in with seven points and had five assists.

Bondi led the Pioneers with 17 points, while Marquez chipped in with 11 and had three steals. Kennedy Guest-Pritchett had 12 points and six rebounds for Smith, surpassing the 1,000 career-point mark during the game.