Babson Park, Mass. – The nationally-ranked Babson College women's basketball team's front court accounted for 67 points and 41 rebounds as the Beavers held off visiting Clark University, 84-58, in a New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) showdown on Wednesday night.

With the victory, Babson, ranked ninth in New England in the most recent NCAA regional poll and 17th in the country by D3hoops.com, improved to 22-2 overall and 17-0 in the NEWMAC. Meanwhile, Clark fell to 15-9 overall and 11-6 in league play.

The Beavers' victory was highlighted by monster performances from all three of the team's starting forwards. Senior captain Kathleen King (Framingham, Mass.) shook off a slow start to finish with 23 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals, senior captain Nicki Wurdeman (Rowley, Mass.) added 21 points, nine boards, and three blocks, and junior Sarah Collins posted yet another double-double with 14 points and a career-best 18 caroms. Babson also received a marvelous effort off the bench from first-year Nikki Heavern (Hull, Mass.), who scored a career-high nine points while pulling down six rebounds, including five off the offensive glass.

Clark also put three players in double figures, highlighted by 17 points apiece from sophomores Megan Grondin (Cumberland, Maine) and Emily Reilly (Marlborough, Mass.). Grondin also added a team-high five rebounds while shooting 7-for-9 from the field. Sophomore captain Ashleigh Condon (Hull, Mass.) chipped in with 15 points, three assists, and two steals for the Cougars, and senior captain Kate Minister (Manchester, England) added seven points.

Babson threatened to pull away early, building a 17-10 lead a little less than eight minutes into the contest. However, Clark came storming back thanks to a 16-2 explosion over the next six minutes of play to take a 26-19 lead. Condon scored seven points during the outburst, while Grondin added four more.

The Cougars still led by as many as six after two Grondin free throws made it 32-26 with 1:21 left in the first half, but Heavern and the Beavers closed the period with a 7-0 run to take a 33-32 edge into the break. The freshman forward made it a four-point game when he converted a lay-up off a nice dish from junior Allanah Wynn (Quincy, Mass.) with 50 seconds left, and, after King drained a jumper to make it a two-point affair, Heavern closed out the half by converting a conventional three-point play with 7.5 seconds on the clock to put Babson in front heading into the locker room.

After the two teams exchanged baskets to start the second period of play, Clark took its final lead when a Condon jumper made it 37-35 with 19:18 remaining. The Beavers would take over from there, using a 19-6 burst over the next five minutes to wrest control of the game from the visitors. King was especially dominant during the run, scoring 13 points to go with one assist, two steals, and a block as Babson built a 54-43 advantage with 14:48 left to play.

Clark would pull back to within nine on three occasions over the remainder of the half, but the Beavers would eventually put the game out of reach with a 24-7 run over the final 10 minutes of the contest en route to the 84-58 victory.

Both squads wrap up their regular season slates on Saturday. Babson hosts Springfield at 2 p.m., while the Cougars head to MIT, also at 2 p.m.