Box Score THE BASICS
Score: Emerson 67, Clark 65
Records: Emerson Lions (15-8, 9-5 NEWMAC) ; Clark Cougars (10-13, 6-8 NEWMAC)
Location: Worcester, Mass. (Kneller Athletic Center)
Date: Saturday, February 9, 2019
The Lead: The Emerson women's basketball team battled it out for four quarters and used down to the wire free-throws to push the Lions past Clark, 67-65, on Saturday afternoon in NEWMAC action, marking the Lions' fourth consecutive conference win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Sophomores Sam Boyle (Scotts Valley, Calif.) and Ashley Toner (Barnegat, N.J.) each put up 12 points apiece and junior Kate Foultz (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) contributed 10 points.
- Ogechi Ezemma led all scorers with 21 points and added eight rebounds for WPI followed by a double-double of 15 points and 11 boards by Hannah Favaloro and an additional 16 points off the bench from Virginia Benbow.
- Emerson forced 27 Clark turnovers and converted them into 21 points, while Clark benefitted from 17 Lions turnovers and scored 21 points.
- Emerson shot 38.3% in the win with Clark completing the afternoon shooting 39.1% from the field.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Clark jumped on the board first when Maya Kersetter nailed a deep three-pointer before Emerson pulled ahead by one after junior Quinn Madden (Mokena, Ill.) drew the and-one (8-7) at the 4:46 mark.
- The Lions allowed the Cougars to jump in front by four on a jumper from Favaloro, but were able to close out the opening quarter out with a 16-14 lead.
- Emerson extended its lead to eight with 5:36 on the clock of the second when a drive to the basket by S. Boyle ignited a 4-0 spurt.
- Junior Natalie Clydesdale (Pittsburgh, Penn.) and senior Charlie Boyle (Scotts Valley, Calif.) each added baskets that put the Lions up 25-16.
- Clark closed the gap to within five after a three-point play as Emerson entered the half up 35-30.
- Three minutes into the third, the Lions put up six points to pull ahead by 12 with 7:18 on the clock.
- The Cougars answered with eight points of their own to inch back within four (42-38) in a run that saw Ezemma score four points at the 5:05 mark.
- Toner knocked down a triple as the clock wound to 38 seconds left and lifted the Lions up to a seven point advantage heading into the fourth (49-42).
- Emerson extended its lead to as many as 11 to begin the fourth before Clark cashed in seven unanswered points, capped off by a three-point play from Favaloro to put the Cougars within four (53-49).
- Foultz canned a triple behind the arc at 7:28 to give Emerson a seven point-cushion (56-49).
- With just 1:21 to play, Benbow hit a three-pointer from the left corner to narrow the Lions' lead down to one (63-62).
- Kersetter found Benbow again in the left corner at the 11 second mark, who sank another three in the same spot to give the Cougars the one-point 65-64 edge.
- Emerson used the free-throw line to seal the tight win with Toner knocking down both shots with four seconds on the clock.
UP NEXT
- Emerson play host to WPI on Wednesday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m. in its final home regular season game of 2019.
- Clark stays at home on Wednesday as well when they host Mount Holyoke at 7:00 p.m.
STAY LIVE WITH THE LIONS
