January 16, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Smith Basketball Falls to Clark 65-53

Northampton, MA: The Pioneers fell to Clark University 65-53 this evening in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action. With the loss, Smith dropped to 3-8 overall and 1-2 in NEWMAC competition while the Cougars improved to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

The Pioneers had a slim 13-11 advantage with thirteen minutes remaining in the first half on baskets by Ashley Sutton (Greenfield, MA), Berit Schelde (Holstebro, Denmark), Lisa Marie Vuono (Lyndhurst, NJ) and Meredith Murelli (Litchfield, CT) but the Cougars went ahead 14-13 on trey by Nicole LeVecque (Billerica, MA) and outscored Smith 15-7 down the stretch to take a 29-20 advantage into halftime.

Clark increased its lead to 17 in the opening five minutes of the second half on a 10-2 run that proved too much for Smith to overcome. Jillian Camilleri (Lancaster, MA) and Sarah Roderigue (Oakland, ME) combined for 27 points for Clark.  Schelde tallied a game high 25 points and Vuono 14 rebounds in the loss for Smith.

The Pioneers travel to NEWMAC opponent Wheaton College on Saturday for a 1 pm contest while the Cougars face WPI in Worcester at 2 p.m.