Worcester, Mass. - Buoyed by a monster
double-double from senior Jillian
Camilleri (Lancaster, Mass.) and some stingy defense,
host Clark snapped a four-game losing skid with a hard-fought 51-46
win over MIT on Wednesday evening in New England Women's And Men's
Athletic Conference action at the Kneller Athletic Center.
Camilleri finished with game-highs of 19 points, 13 rebounds and
four blocks and made two clutch free throws with 20 seconds left to
help the Cougars collect their third win of the season and improve
to 2-3 in NEWMAC play.
Clark held the visiting Engineers to just 17 percent shooting in
the first 20 minutes as they opened up a 26-15 halftime lead.
Things didn't improve much for the visitors early in the second
half as the lead grew to as many as 13 points.
MIT, however, behind the long range shooting of Aparna Sud, slowly
whittled the Clark lead down and after a Sud triple with 1:20 left,
the once double figure Cougar edge was down to 47-44.
A minute later a pair of Sud free throws had the lead at one, but
that's when Camilleri drained a pair from the charity stripe to
make the score 49-46. A missed jumper by Sud was rebounded by
Camilleri and she made two more freebies to seal the win for the
Cougars.
Clark dominated the interior, holding a 42-32 edge on the glass and
a 32-10 edge in points in the paint.
The Cougars also committed a season-low 16 turnovers, marking just
the second time this season they didnt commit 20 or more
miscues.
Although Camilleri was the lone Clark player in double figures, the
Cougars got a career-high eight points from freshman Kelsey
Johnston (Shirley, Mass.) on 4-for-4 shooting, and an
excellent all-around performance from Kate
Minister (Manchester, England), who added five points,
eight rebounds and four assists.
Sud paced MIT with 14 points (4-for-17 shooting), while Lauren
Sascha Burton (Seattle, Wash.) added seven points, nine assists and
no turnovers.
Clark returns to action on Saturday when they visit Coast Guard,
while the Engineers, who have dropped six straight games, will
square off with Smith on Saturday as well.
