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Smith reaches program’s first Final Four after beating Trinity

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  Smith College players rush the court to celebrate their NCAA Division 3 Elite 8 victory after defeating Trinity 63-46 on Saturday night at Ainsworth Gymnasium in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

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  Smith College’s Katelyn Pickunka cuts a section of net after their NCAA Division 3 Elite 8 victory over Trinity on Saturday night at Ainsworth Gymnasium in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

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  Smith College players rush the court to celebrate their NCAA Division 3 Elite 8 victory after defeating Trinity 63-46 on Saturday night at Ainsworth Gymnasium in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

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  Smith College’s Ally Yamada cuts a section of net after their NCAA Division 3 Elite 8 victory over Trinity on Saturday night at Ainsworth Gymnasium in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

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  Smith College head coach Lynn Hersey cuts down the net after their NCAA Division 3 Elite 8 victory over Trinity on Saturday night at Ainsworth Gymnasium in Northampton. STAFF PHOTO/DAN LITTLE

NORTHAMPTON – The chants began with more than a minute left.

“Final Four! Final Four! Final Four!”

The reality hit the Smith College student section long before the basketball team allowed itself to believe. Smith forward Katelyn Pickunka spread her arms wide, inviting Pioneers guard Ally Yamada in for a long hug as the clock hit all zeroes and the buzzer sounded to make it official Saturday. The rest of the team sprang off the bench and launched into them as they all embraced. Two students raced over from the bleachers, a court trickle more than a storm after an NCAA Tournament Elite 8 victory.

The scoreboard read Smith 63, Trinity 46 at Ainsworth Gymnasium.

“It’s not real yet. I don’t think it’ll be real for a couple days,” Smith senior forward Morgan Morrison said. “It feels really great to have this opportunity because not a lot of people do and just to be here, It’s unreal.”

The orange ladder was real. The scissors were real to cut down the Ainsworth Gymnasium net, the opposite one that the Pioneers usually snip after they won each of their three consecutive NEWMAC titles.

“Having the second time was surreal. That’s never happened,” Yamada said. “That net’s been there for a while. Having two being cut in one year was just amazing.”

After each player took their thread, Smith coach Lynn Hersey, who has led the Pioneers for 16 years and is their all-time wins leader, removed the rest of the nylon and whirled it around from the top step, balancing in beige high heels. She threw it like a bouquet, which Morrison grabbed above all of her teammates like a rebound.

Morrison fouled out of the team’s Sweet 16 overtime win over Mary Washington. She also struggled with foul trouble in the second-round win over St. John Fisher. With history on the line, Trinity felt her presence. Morrison registered her 13th double-double of the season with 17 points and 11 rebounds. She committed just two fouls.

“I just wanted to come back stronger and not let other teams think that that’s a weakness for me,” Morrison said. “I just tried to play the cleanest defense I’ve ever played in my life. I really wanted to take a stand and show that, we may be caught down at a moment – especially me – but we always come back.”

Smith (30-1), which won its 24th consecutive game, led by double digits for most of the game. Trinity (25-6) pulled as close as six in the third quarter on a Francesca Silva free throw with 3:16 left to make it 42-36. Smith ended the frame on a 5-0 run to stretch its advantage back to double digits. Morrison, the NEWMAC and New England Women’s Basketball Association Player of the Year, scored 10 of the Pioneers’ 12 points in the quarter.

“The NCAA Tournament is a stage where your big players need make big plays. This is how you would advance to a Final Four. Everyone has them. We have multiple,” Hersey said. “Morgan is just so consistent. She just impacts the game in so many ways. I know everybody looks at the points, but her ability to control the boards, the amount of double-doubles she gets, her rim protection for us, her ability to rotate. That was huge.”

Both Smith’s tallest player (Morrison) and smallest (Yamada) delivered when the Pioneers needed them. Yamada erupted for 18 of her 23 points in the second quarter, as the Pioneers built a double-digit lead. The junior hit 5-of-8 3s in the frame. She splashed a jumper 10 seconds into the quarter to give the Pioneers a 15-13 lead and kept hitting as they built it to double digits. Her triple with 4:46 to halftime gave Smith its first double-digit lead 29-19.

“They’ll be Hall of Fame players here at Smith some day, and they just brought their team to a Final Four,” Hersey said. “That’s something they will always have.”

Smith’s advantage ballooned to 16 with 5:22 left when Pickunka, a Hampshire Regional grad, sank two free throws to make it 58-52. The graduate student had eight points and 11 boards.

After playing their last six games at home, the Pioneers will strike out to Hartford for the Final Four to face Transylvania (31-0) in Trinity’s gym in Hartford on Saturday. They made history reaching the Elite Eight on Friday. Saturday’s Final Four trip is a pantheon moment for a program. But why stop there?

“I’m thinking about all the work that needs to be done, and preparation. For (Saturday), yeah, we’re going to celebrate this. We’re going to enjoy our time together. It’s a big accomplishment. We’re super privileged to be at a school like Smith with all the support we’ve had, and the belief that we could do something like this. That’s very meaningful to all of us,” Hersey said. “I’m just ready for more. This is fun. This is great. I don’t think this is the ultimate goal for any of us.”

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.

Final: ⁦@SC_BBall⁩ 63, Trinity 46 in the d3 elite 8. The pioneers are blazing a new trail to the Final Four pic.twitter.com/fkcOqXI1dQ

— Kyle Grabowski (@kylegrbwsk) March 12, 2023

• ncaa tournament
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“Trinity” was delivered from the Tretyakov Gallery to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior

The “Trinity” icon by Andrey Rublev was successfully transported from the Tretyakov Gallery to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in the evening of June 3, where it will be on the feast of the Holy Trinity on June 4 and for the next two weeks, until June 18, the press service of the Ministry of Culture reported.

The icon has been installed in a capsule that provides moisture conditions, the conditions required for the preservation of the monument will be strictly controlled in the temple, the press service said. They added that employees of the Tretyakov Gallery would follow the icon.

According to Sergei Vinogradov, head of the automation and telemechanics department of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, in order to ensure the safety of the Trinity, increased requirements are put forward for observing the temperature and humidity regime, similar to museum ones.

“In a special capsule with glass, where the icon has been moved, the set humidity level of 55% will be maintained. In addition, we have duplicated ventilation and air conditioning systems working for the central temple, as well as refrigeration machines that will be launched as needed,” Vinogradov said.

The icon was transported in special vehicles equipped with “air suspension, climate control and various security systems,” the Ministry of Culture said. A special packing box was made for the transportation of the Trinity.

Earlier, the Russian Orthodox Church reported that believers will be able to bow to the icon daily from 10:00 to 19:00, technical breaks lasting up to an hour are possible.

On May 15, the website of the Moscow Patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin, in response to numerous requests from the Orthodox, decided to return the church of the Trinity icon of St. Andrei Rublev. Later, the Ministry of Culture clarified that the icon would be exhibited on June 4 in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on the day of the Holy Trinity. After exhibiting, the image will be sent for restoration, and then moved to the Trinity Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. But already on May 23, the members of the expert council came to the conclusion that the icon could not be taken out of the Tretyakov Gallery on the feast of the Trinity on June 4 due to the unstable state of the relic. After that, the Russian Orthodox Church proposed to create a protective capsule with an inert gas to preserve the relic.

On May 24, the commission on the culture of ancient and medieval Rus’ of the Scientific Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences “History of World Culture” appealed to the Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova with a request to prevent the destruction of the Trinity icon, which could occur due to the movement of the canvas from the Tretyakov Gallery. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov then said that the Kremlin would hold consultations with experts on the movement of the icon.

Later, the Ministry of Culture reported that the Trinity icon would be moved to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for two weeks from June 4th. They emphasized that the safety of the icon will be ensured by “all the necessary and most modern means” during transportation and exposure. Upon completion of the two-week exposure, the icon will be sent for planned restoration and conservation.

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