CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Despite freshman Natalie Clydesdale (Pittsburgh, Penn.) tallying eight points for the Lions, the Emerson women's basketball team shouldered its first NEWMAC loss of the 2016-2017 season to MIT, 75-40, at Rockwell Cage on Wednesday night.

The Engineers improve to 4-1 (1-0 NEWMAC) with the win, while the Lions slip down to 2-2 (0-1 NEWMAC). 

Clydesdale paced Emerson with eight points to match with five rebounds and two takeaways. Freshman Quinn Madden (Mokena, Ill.) registered six boards and five points, while freshman Kate Foultz (Harleysville, Penn.) contributed six points. 

Kara Holinski put up 10 points for MIT while Sophie Gershon had eight rebounds, seven points and four blocks. Kristen Ngen tallied eight rebounds and seven points and Maude Gull chipped in eight points. 

Halfway through the start of the first half, both MIT and Emerson were squared at 6-all. The Engineers soon broke away from the Lions and put up 11 straight points. Within the 11 straight points tallied by the Engineers, Taylor V'Dovec contributed the first two buckets as the next seven points came from Cindy Si. Emerson began to chip away at MIT's lead and came within six at 17-11 on back-to-back buckets from junior Maya Sorvino (Killingworth, Conn.) and sophomore Natalie Busch (Weybridge, England). Six is the closest Emerson would come to MIT as the Engineers pieced together a 15-6 run through the next 10:28 to gain the 34-17 lead at halftime. 

The second half saw MIT extend its lead margin and reached 38 points at 72-34 after a Gull drained a three-point shot with 4:26 left in regulation. Even though the Lions were down double-digits, they put together a 6-3 spurt to close out the game. 

Both Emerson and MIT continue NEWMAC play on Saturday afternoon. Emerson returns to Brown & Plofker to host Clark and MIT will travel to Mount Holyoke. Both games are slated for a 1:00 p.m. tipoff.