BOSTON, Mass. (January 17, 2026) – Emerson College opened New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) play with a little revenge, dealing Salve Regina University a 73-62 setback in NEWMAC women's basketball action on Hank Smith Court at Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gymnasium this afternoon.           

Senior Bri Frongillo paced Emerson to the win over a Salve Regina team that eliminated the Lions in the quarterfinals of the 2025 NEWMAC Tournament on Smith Court last February with a game-high 27 points, adding seven rebounds and four assists. Junior Claire English contributed her fifth double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds with two assists and three steals, while sophomore Jessie Silk grabbed a team-high 12 points to go with eight points, six assists and a steal.

Senior Sofia Neary led Salve Regina with a double-double of 21 points and a game-high 13 rebounds with three blocked shots, while sophomore Emma Cochrane totaled 14 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting and four steals. Junior Deanna Linscott rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points, connecting on 3-of-5 three-pointers, and five boards.

Emerson, which had seven different players combine to total ten three-pointers, including three with two each, shot 46.9-percent from the floor in the second half (15-for-32) to pull away after taking a one-point halftime lead (32-31). The Lions hit 6-of-14 (42.9%) three-pointers in the second half with Frongillo scoring 16 of her game-high 27 points over the final 20-minutes. Salve made just 32.3% of its shots in the second half.

English posted her fifth double-double of the season in the Lions NEWMAC opener today (PHOTO BY Kate Gonzales)

Emerson outscored Salve 15-7 over the final 7:16 of the second quarter to turn a seven-point deficit (24-17) after a Linscott three-pointer, into a one-point halftime lead (32-31) following a turnaround jumper from junior Elise Arnold with 42-seconds remaining. The Lions got three-pointers from three different players, including Frongillo who scored seven points during the stretch.

Frongillo scored the first five points of the second half and junior Kaylin O'Meara connected from deep to extend the Emerson lead to seven (40-33) less than three minutes into the third quarter. The Lions stretched the lead to nine (45-36) after a layup from English a minute later, but Salve rallied back to within a possession (45-43) with 4:13 to play in the third after five-straight from Neary and a layup by Cochrane.

Cochrane scored eight-straight points to push Salve back in front (50-48) with 2:04 left in the third, but Emerson responded with three-pointers from Arnold and junior Kendra Dodd to carry a four-point lead (56-52) into the fourth. The Lions extended the run to 21-3 over the first half of the fourth quarter to grab a 16-point lead (69-53) following a Frongillo jumper with 5:06 to play. She scored six points during the game-clinching run with Silk connecting from long range.

Noteworthy

• Frongillo notched her third 20-point scoring outing of the season (29^th career), scoring in double-figures for the eighth time in nine games played this season (52^nd career) to finish as the Lions top scorer for the seventh time (42^nd career).
• English posted her 12^th career double-double, scoring in double figures for the seventh time this season (17^th career) with double digit rebounds for the sixth time (19^th career).
• Silk led the Lions in rebounding for the tenth game this season (12^th career) with her ninth double-figure rebounding game. Emerson is 7-3 this season when she is its top rebounder (8-4 career).
• Emerson improves to 6-0 on Smith Court this season.

Up Next
Emerson (10-5, 1-0 NEWMAC) is back in action on Wednesday when it continues NEWMAC play at Wellesley College at 7 p.m. The Lions next home game is Wednesday, January 28, when they host MIT on Smith Court at 7 p.m. Salve Regina (6-9, 0-1 NEWMAC) hosts Springfield College for a NEWMAC contest on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

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