Clark tops basketball in NEWMAC home opener

Emma Goff had six points and 12 rebounds for Mount Holyoke in a loss to Wellesley on Feb. 10, 2024. (RJB Sports file photo)
Emma Goff had six points and 12 rebounds for Mount Holyoke in a loss to Wellesley on Feb. 10, 2024. (RJB Sports file photo)

SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Clark University outscored the Mount Holyoke College basketball team in every quarter in a dominating 89-16 NEWMAC victory Saturday afternoon in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium.

The Cougars (12-5, 2-1 NEWMAC) won for the sixth time in their last seven games, shooting 50.0 percent (37-74) from the field while holding the host Lyons (2-15, 0-3 NEWMAC) to four field goals on 52 attempts for the game (.077).

Jacqueline Faulise had a game-high 16 points for Clark, shooting 7-8 (.875) from the field. Sarah Zambrano totaled 12 points and 14 rebounds from off the bench, and Kailey Rios scored 11 points.

First-year Emma Goff (Cohasset, Mass.) scored six points and grabbed 13 rebounds for Mount Holyoke, and fellow rookie Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.) shared the team scoring lead with six points as well.

A steal and a layup by Faulise started off the scoring in the game, and after a pair of free throws by Goff, a steal and layup by Catherine Antwi returned the lead to the Cougars for good.

After a pair of free throws by Zambrano expanded Clark's lead to 19-3, Goen made back-to-back buckets for Mount Holyoke to cut it to 19-7 with under a minute left in the first quarter. A jumper by Alexis Ross gave Clark a 21-7 lead after the end of the first period.

Goff made an offensive putback one minute into the second quarter, but the Lyons were held scoreless for the remainder of the period as Clark finished out the half on an 18-0 run for a 41-9 lead.

Faulise and Rios made back-to-back threes to open the second half, and Clark expanded its lead to 71-11 at the end of three quarters. A 3-pointer by junior Marley Berano (Lady Lake, Fla.) with 7:12 left in the game gave the Lyons their 14th point against a stifling Cougar defense.

Mount Holyoke will host WPI on Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7pm. Clark will host Wheaton at the same time.