Pride Women’s Basketball Loses on Late Clark Rally

WORCESTER, Mass. – Regis College held the lead through a significant portion of the game, but Clark University put together a late scoring run to earn a 70-65 victory Saturday afternoon in the Clark Holiday Classic at the Kneller Athletic Center.

Sam D'Angelo (Woburn, Mass.) tied her career high in scoring with 23 points, hitting 7-of-16 shots from the field and 7-of-8 attempts from the free throw line, plus she collected six rebounds and four assists. Valerie Martin (Derry, N.H.) finished with 14 points and seven rebounds, and Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) came off the bench and added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Clark's Ogechi Ezemma scored the first four points of the game, but a traditional three-point play by Martin and a three-pointer from D'Angelo put the Pride on top, 6-4. D'Angelo and Searcy combined for all of Regis's points during a 9-2 scoring run as the Pride pulled ahead, 21-16, at the end of the first quarter.

Consecutive three-pointers by Martin and Maura Russell (Braintree, Mass.) extended the Pride lead to 27-19 in the first minute of the second quarter, but Clark battled back, scoring six straight points to pull to within two points at 29-27. After D'Angelo hit her second three-pointer of the game, the Cougars scored five straight points to tie the game at 32-32, but consecutive baskets by Nikki Bitinaitis (Cromwell, Conn.) and Martin helped the Pride take a 36-34 lead into halftime.

Ezemma opened the third quarter with a three-pointer to put the Cougars on top, with consecutive baskets by Hannah Favaloro increasing the Clark lead to five at 44-39. Down by six, the Pride closed out the quarter with a 9-1 scoring run, capped by a layup by Russell, to pull back ahead at the end of the third quarter, 53-51.

Martin opened the fourth quarter with a layup, but the Cougars responded with eight unanswered points to retake the lead at 59-55 midway through the period. The Pride came right back with six straight points on two baskets by Katryna Veasey (Quincy, Mass.) sandwiched around a layup by Bitinaitis, giving the Pride a 61-59 lead with over three minutes remaining in regulation.

Clark (4-7) took the lead for good on a three-pointer by Maya Kerstetter, with baskets by Favaloro and Kerstetter extending the Cougar advantage to 66-61. The Pride closed to within one on layups by Veasey and Searcy, but Clark went 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds to close out the contest.

Sam O'Gara led the Cougars with 17 points, plus she collected five rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Ezemma notched a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds, plus she blocked four shots. Favaloro finished with 13 points and eight rebounds, Kerstetter contributed seven points and four steals, and Kacey Legare added nine points off the bench.

As a team, Clark shot 40.0 percent (26-of-65) from the field and 83.3 percent (15-of-18) from the free throw line. The Cougars scored 20 points off 21 Regis turnovers, but they allowed the Pride to score 18 points off 19 Clark turnovers.

The Pride shot 34.8 percent (24-of-69) from the field, including 4-of-15 from behind the three-point line, and 92.9 percent (13-of-14) from the free throw line. Regis won the rebounding battle, 45-41, including 16 offensive rebounds that led to 19 second chance points.

Regis (1-7) faces Wellesley College on the second day of the Clark Holiday Classic Sunday, Dec. 30, starting at 2 p.m. After a New Year's Day game at Brandeis Tuesday, the Pride host UMass Dartmouth Thursday, Jan. 3, beginning at 6 p.m. at Higgins Court.