02/23/2008
Women's Basketball Drops Regular-Season Finale to Wheaton

NORTON, MA- The Clark University women's basketball team dropped a 71-50 New England Womens and Mens Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) decision to Wheaton College in its regular season finale on Saturday afternoon in Emerson Gymnasium.

Wheaton (19-6, 12-1 NEWMAC) won its first NEWMAC regular season championship in the 10-year history of the league en route to the top seed in next week's eight-team NEWMAC Tournament. The Cougars slipped to 8-16 and 4-9, earning the tournament's seventh seed.

Outside of four ties through the first 9:31 of play and one short-lived lead by Clark, the hosts led for nearly the entire game. Leading 17-15 with 7:40 remaining in the opening stanza, Wheaton held the Cougars without a field goal for 7:01 while going on a 12-2 run during 4:12 to make the score 29-17 in favor of the Lyons. Sophomore Ida Kruse (Vershire, VT/Rivendell Academy) had six points and two steals during that stretch.

Wheaton held a 31-21 halftime advantage, outrebounding the Cougars, 26-15. Two of the Lyons' top three scoring leaders were held without a point through the first 20 minutes, but sophomore Jenny Champney (Bedford, MA/Bedford) picked up the slack in tallying 10 points, six blocks and five rebounds. Kruse and junior Bri Smith (Westford, MA/Westford Academy) chipped in with eight points each.

In the second half, Clark narrowed its gap to eight three times, with the latter coming on a jumper from sophomore Ruth Briggs (Sanford, ME/Sanford) at 16:56, but Champney scored the next five points and the Lyons maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way. Wheaton turned a 10-point advantage with under 12 minutes to go into an 18-point cushion at 7:51. The hosts pushed their lead out to as many as 23 points with 2:07 left.

For the game, the Lyons held the Cougars to just 25.8 percent (16-62) shooting from the floor and 12.5 percent (3-24) from three-point territory. Clark also only made 57.7 percent (15-26) of its free throws. Conversely, Wheaton knocked down 80.0 percent (16-20) from the charity stripe and 41.0 percent (25-61) of its field goals, including 48.3 percent (14-29) in the second half. The Blue and White finished with a 47-39 rebounding edge.

Champney completed an all-around solid performance with 21 points, nine rebounds and a career-best six blocks. Smith tallied 13 points, sophomore Andrea Bailey (Needham, MA/Needham) turned in 12 points, seven boards and three steals, while Kruse rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points, five rebounds and three steals. Senior Becky Aitchison (Norwalk, CT/Trinity Catholic) tallied seven boards and seven assists during her home regular season finale.

Junior Sarah Roderigue (Oakland, ME/Messalonskee) paced the Cougars with 16 points and eight rebounds. Briggs tied a career-high 12 points, while sophomore Jillian Camilleri (Lancaster, MA/Nashoba Regional) had six points and eight boards. Junior Sara Hagstrom (Yarmouth, ME/Yarmouth) handed out five assists.

Clark will travel to second-seed Coast Guard Academy on Wednesday (TBA). Wheaton hosts eighth seed Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in tournament first-round action on Wednesday (7 p.m.)

(Courtesy of Wheaton College Sports Information)