Worcester, Mass. – November 28, 2012 – The Springfield College women’s basketball team let a 10 point first-half lead slip away as it dropped a 63-54 decision at Clark University on Wednesday evening in New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) action.

Emily Reilly scored nine straight points for Clark, helping the hosts erase a late second half deficit to improve their record to 4-0 on the season. Springfield dropped its third-straight contest to fall to 1-3.

Reilly led all scorers with 18 points and seven rebounds on 7-for-13 shooting to lead the Clark offensive attack.

Springfield opened the gates on the offensive, racing out to a 16-6 lead midway through the first half behind the scoring of Jaimie Bickelhaupt and the interior presence of Emily Walker.

Clark answered with a 12-0 run to take an 18-16 edge and then went on a 9-2 spurt capped by a Brooke Brennan three-pointer that sent the Cougars into halftime ahead 27-21 after a Meghan Biondolillo three-pointer with less than a minute to play.

The Scarlet and White stayed ahead in the opening minutes of the second half as Kelsey Giedymin and Esther Cohn knocked down key three-pointers. As they did in the first half, however, the Pride became the aggressor and eventually regained the lead at 44-42 on a conventional three-point play by Andrea Moschetta at the 7:58 mark.

Down by two, Reilly went on her personal scoring streak, first connecting on a pair of free throws, then dropping in a three-pointer. She followed that up with a short jumper and a finish on the break sandwiched around Springfield free throws by Bickelhaupt and Heather Lewis, making the score 51-48 with 5:21 remaining.

A pair of Megan Grondin free throws sparked another Cougar scoring burst – this one a 10-2 run that featured free throws from Ashleigh Condon, more freebies from Grondin and a game-sealing three from Brennan.

Neither team shot the ball well, with the Cougars connecting on 33 percent of their attempts and the Pride going 17-for-66 (26 percent).

Clark scored 17 points off of 19 Springfield turnovers, but the Pride won the battle on the glass (51-48) and got 19 points from its reserves.

In addition to Reilly, the Cougars had Grondin finish with 12 points and five rebounds and Giedymin total nine points and seven boards. Condon, meanwhile, stuffed the stat sheet with nine points, seven rebounds, seven assists and three steals.

The Pride had three players reach double figures led by MoschettaÂ's 13 points and five assists and BickelhauptÂ's 11 points and eight rebounds. Biondolillo added ten points in 32 minutes, while Walker was dominant on the glass, grabbing 18 boards in just 22 minutes.

Springfield will continue league play on Saturday when it travels to take on Wellesley at 2:00 pm.