BOSTON, Mass. - Six players reached double-figures in leading Emerson College to a 87-31 victory over Mount Holyoke College in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action on Saturday. With the win, the Lions improve to 10-13 overall and are now 7-7 in conference play. The Lyons of MHC move to 0-22 with an 0-14 mark in the NEWMAC.
Emerson came out firing in the opening quarter, holding MHC to a jumper. The homestanding Lions carried the momentum into the second frame, going up by a 31-3 margin following a free throw make from senior Eastin Ashby. Junior Zahkeyah Allen helped pull the visitors back in, nailing a pair of shots from the line with 6:03 to play, followed three minutes later by an inside layup from rookie GraceAnne Woods to make it a 37-7 game with 3:02 on the clock.
Rookie Raquel Fitzpatrick dropped in two free throw shots, while Allen nailed another to cut the deficit to 47-10 after the first two quarters of play. Despite the momentum, Emerson continued to press into the third, opening up a 56-10 advantage at 8:06 on a three-pointer from Ashby. First year Ireland Clare Kennedy drained a layup at 5:52, and Fitzpatrick followed with a shot from beyond the arc to pull the Lyons to 60-16.
Trailing by a 66-20 margin heading into the final frame, MHC came out with determination as Woods sank a pair of free throws, while Fitzpatrick nailed another three. Mount Holyoke got a nice inside layup by Clare Kennedy to close the gap to 50 (77-27), but the Lyons could not hold off the Emerson offense as it continued to capitalize down the stetch.
Leading Emerson was Ashby, who put down 17 points and five rebounds while also notching the 200th steal of her career. Quinn Madden added 13 points, while Natalie Clydesdale and Charlie Boyle each recorded 10 points. Boyle also added six boards, while Clydesdale recorded five assists. Rachel Davey also notched 10 points on the afternoon.
For MHC, Fitzpatrick paced the way with 11 points and also pulled down nine rebounds and three assists. Woods added nine points with seven boards, while rookie Susan Percival added nine boards as well with three assists.
Mount Holyoke returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Smith in its final regular season home game of 2017-18. Tip-off against the Pioneers is 7pm. Emerson is also in action on Wednesday, hosting Wheaton in its final regular season contest as well. Action for that match begins at 5:30pm.
