Pride Drop New Year Opener to Eagles

WESTON, Mass. — Regis College women's basketball opened the 2026 calendar year by welcoming the University of Northwestern (Minn.) to Higgins Court, where the Pride came up short in a 69-57 loss, dropping to 3-9 on the season.

Madi Zancan led the Pride with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Jordyn Striggles added nine points. Kailyn Smith chipped in six points, three rebounds, and three assists in the effort.

For the Eagles, Lydia Schmitter filled up the stat sheet with 12 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks. Marin Blom paced the scoring with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Karley Loven rounded out the offense with 12 points.

How it Happened

The afternoon started off back and forth before 11 unanswered from the Eagles out them ahead, 18-6 with 2:27 left before a perfect trip to the line stopped the bleeding. However the Eagles would have a hand in a remainder of the scoring in the stanza to go ahead 15 after one. 

A Jojo Ready triple would highlight a run that brought the Pride back within 10 with just under seven minutes to play in the half. Later in the half an Erika Marinelli bucket followed by Jillian Perry free throw would make it a single-digit game, 32-23 with 3:07 to play but the Eagles would respond on both ends holding the Pride to just one more field goal to go into the break ahead, 40-26. 

Zancan kept the Pride within striking distance out of the break, accounting for the team's first eight points of the second half. Sophia Pollini then brought Regis back within single digits with a three-pointer, making it a 44-35 game with 5:35 remaining in the third quarter. Smith followed with a layup to cut the deficit to seven and force the Eagles to regroup. However, the timeout proved beneficial for Northwestern, who responded with nine straight points to reestablish a double-digit lead which would carry through the remainder of the quarter, heading into the fourth ahead 57-43.

The Pride refused to go away and stayed within reach until the midway point of the fourth, capped by a triple from Striggles cut the deficit to 61-53 with under five minutes to play. That would be as close as Regis would get, as the Eagles held on to secure the 69-57 victory.

Inside the Numbers

• Madi Zancan recorded her seventh double-double of the season with her performance this afternoon.
• This afternoon marked the fourth time this season the Pride shot over 75 percent from the charity stripe.
• This afternoon's matchup is the first meeting between the two programs and marked the Pride's fourth and final out-of-region matchup on their schedule. 

Up Next

The Pride return to regional play next week when they travel down the road to Wellesley College to face the Lyons at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, January 7.