SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. – Despite a game-best 21 points and 19 rebounds from junior forward Amber Legare, the Mount Holyoke College basketball team could not hold off Clark University, falling 69-59 in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Tuesday evening. With the victory, the Cougars move to 3-2 and are now 1-2 in conference play. The Lyons are also 3-2 and slip to 1-2 in the NEWMAC.
Mount Holyoke opened the game with a 9-2 lead behind buckets from four different player, including a layup from Legare (Chicopee, Mass./Chicopee Comprehensive) at the 17:24 mark. Clark responded and slowly began to close the gap, making it a 13-10 game behind a pair of free throw makes from senior Ashleigh Condon (Hull, Mass./Hull) with 11:15 remaining.
An ensuing layup from senior Emily Reilly (Marlborough, Mass./Marlborough) and a bucket from Condon tipped the score in Clark's favor as the Cougars took a 14-13 lead with 10:24 on the clock. The Lyons kept it close and regained the advantage on a three-pointer from junior captain Kate Karraker (Morgantown, W.V./Taft School (CT).
MHC held a 24-18 lead following a Legare jumper with 7:21 to play, but a shot from downtown by sophomore Brooke Brennan (Weston, Mass./The Rivers School) cut it to a 24-21 deficit and another three-pointer from senior Esther Cohn (Chapel Hill, N.C./Carolina Friends School) later made it a two-point contest (29-27) in MHC's favor.
Clark continued to battle and took the advantage just eight seconds before halftime after an MHC foul sent senior Megan Grondin (Cumberland, Maine/Greely) to the line for one shot, which she made to make it a 37-38 game.
In the second half, Clark held tight to the advantage and did not relinquish it. The Cougars built up a six-point (47-41) lead through the first six minutes of the stanza, powered by a pair 
of buckets from Reilly and a three-pointer from Brennan. Legare closed the gap to four (47-43) with 12:51 to play, but Clark continued to counter, going up by 11 points (56-45) behind a jumper and free throw make from first year Olivia Lyons (Belmont, Mass./Belmont).
MHC's Genelle Green (Windsor, Conn./Miss Porter's School) sank a layup to close the gap to 56-49, but another three from Brennan pushed the lead back to 10 points with 5:18 left on the clock. A pair of makes from the line by junior Nicole DeMarchena (Miami, Fla./Amherst Regional (MA) and a jumper from Legare cut the Cougars lead down to six (61-55), but Clark held tough down the stretch, opening the gap back into double-digits behind a three-point shot from Reilly and shooting 5-for-6 from the free throw line over the final minute of play.
Clark was led by Reilly, who posted 16 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Brennan finished with 14 points, going 4-for-9 from three-point range, while also producing a game-best four steals. First year Aretha Sullivan (Worcester, Mass./University Park) added 11 points and Cohn delivered a squad-high 10 rebounds.
For Mount Holyoke, Legare added three assists to her game-best point and board totals. Senior guard Jennine Vizcaino (New York, N.Y./Northfield Mount Hermon (MA) added 10 points and a game-high five assists, while DeMarchena chipped in with seven points and 12 rebounds.
Clark, which shot 45.5% from the field in the game, returns to action on Sunday when it plays at Tufts at 1pm. Mount Holyoke, which went 70.6% from the free throw line, is idle until December 4 when it hosts Smith in NEWMAC action at 7pm.
