January 15, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carole Grills
(413) 585-2703

Basketball Falls at Clark 54-45

Northampton, MA: Sophomore guard Jessica Welk (Arlington, WA) tallied 13 points last night in the Pioneers 54-45 loss at New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opponent Clark University. With the loss, Smith dropped to 7-6 overall and 1-2 in conference play while the Cougars improved to 6-8 overall and 2-1 in the NEWMAC.

Four lead exchanges in the opening eight minutes of play gave the Pioneers a one-point advantage (12-11) but Clark put together an 11-5 run to take a 22-17 lead with 5:59 remaining and took a 26-22 lead into the half.

The Cougars increased their lead to six but Smith closed the gap to one (37-38) with 7:04 left on a three-pointer by Welk. Clark's offense once again took control and ran off 11 of the next 13 points to put the game out of reach.

Courtney Parker (Ocean City, MD) and Lisa Marie Vuono (Lyndhurst, NJ) pulled down 11 and 10 rebounds respectively in the Pioneers' loss.  Jillian Camilleri (Lancaster, MA) led Clark with 19 points and set a new school record for rebounds in a game with 24.  Kate Minister (Manchester, England) added 11 points for the Cougars.

Both teams return to NEWMAC action on Saturday when Smith hosts Wheaton at 2 pm and Clark hosts WPI at 1.