Worcester, Mass. - Visiting WPI held off a furious Clark comeback and extended its winning streak to five games with a workman-like 58-54 win over its crosstown rival in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at the Kneller Athletic Center.

Down by as many as 18 at 41-23 in the opening moments of the second half, the Cougars clamped down on defense and held the Engineers to 30 percent shooting in the second half as they whittled away the WPI lead with a blistering 21-3 run over a nine minute span. The scoring spree was keyed by the Clark bench as they scored ten of the points during the run and forced the Engineers into a 1-for-10 shooting display during the outburst.

WPI answered back by scoring eight of the next ten points capped by an Ellie Fontaine (Franklin, Mass.) triple with 2:55 left to regain momentum.

The Cougars would not go away however, as Kate Minister (Manchester, England) dropped in a three of her own and Ivori Aiken (Harlem, N.Y.) added a pair of tough inside finishes keeping Clark close.

In the end, the Engineers, although they struggled from the line (12-for-22), made enough from the charity stripe in the closing seconds to collect the win.

WPI controlled the opening 20 minutes of the game, making six three-pointers, while holding the Cougars to 8-for-23 shooting and forcing 14 turnovers. Aiken proved to be their only cause for concern as she netted 14 of Clark's 18 first half points.

For the game, the Scarlet and White held a 41-32 advantage on the glass, but committed 22 turnovers and connected on just five of their 24 three-point attempts.

The Engineers, meanwhile, had only ten miscues for the game and held a sizable advantage in points off of turnovers (27-6).

Aiken finished her day with a career-high 26 points and eight rebounds on 11-for-17 shooting, while Jill Camilleri (Lancaster, Mass.) added 11 points and eight rebounds. Fontaine paced WPI with 14 points and four rebounds and Caitlin OConnor (New Hampton, N.H) came off the bench and scored 13 points. Also in double figures for the Engineers were Melissa Kuhn (Stoughton, Mass.), who totaled 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals and reserve freshman Theresa Logan (Southboro, Mass.) provided 10 points and five boards.

Clark (2-5, 1-1 NEWMAC) returns to action on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. start at Wheaton, while WPI (5-2, 2-0 NEWMAC) host Springfield on the same night.