Worcester, Mass. – Host Clark University forced 28 turnovers and the Cougars collected a 71-57 win over Becker College in the first game of the 33rd annual Worcester City Women's Basketball Tournament on Friday evening.

The Cougars will face league rival WPI in the championship game tomorrow at 3:00 p.m. The Hawks, meanwhile, will play Worcester State in the consolation game slated to tip off at 1:00 p.m.

The Scarlet and White got an excellent all-around performance from Emily Reilly (Marlboro, Mass.), who tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and seven steals.

Clark only shot 39 percent from the field, including a frigid 1-for-13 from behind the arc, but the Cougars got a huge boost from its bench, outscoring the Hawk reserves 28-4.

Much of that advantage came courtesy of two new faces in freshmen Gwyneth Ivory (Ashland, Mass.) and Olivia Lyons (Belmont, Mass.) as that duo combined for 13 points and 15 rebounds in 29 minutes, helping the Cougars to a 46-42 edge on the glass.

The Scarlet and White actually came out sluggish and didn't make its first basket until nearly four minutes were gone.

Clark eventually settled down and went on a 15-6 run highlighted by baskets from Lyons (seven points, game-high 11 rebounds), Ivory (six points, four rebounds), Aretha Sullivan (Worcester, Mass.) and a steal and finish by Reilly, making the score 23-13.

Moments later a Tatiana Mojica (Worcester, Mass.) basket off a Haley Ooms (Valatie, N.Y.) feed made the score 27-17, but the Hawks would go without a basket for nearly seven minutes and when the dust cleared, Clark held a 33-18 advantage.

After settling for a 35-24 halftime edge, the Cougars found their lead at just nine at 43-34 less than five minutes into the second stanza when Elizabeth McNiff (Leominster, Mass.) found a cutting Jacqueline Chila (Monroe, Conn.) at 15:20.

Clark responded, going on a game-sealing 13-4 run capped by back-to-back baskets from Ashleigh Condon (Hull, Mass.) that made the score 56-38.

Becker would get as close as 61-49 when Mojica scored inside, but the lead ballooned back to as many as 17 on a couple of occasions as time wound down.

The Hawks actually shot 54 percent from the field in the second half, but Clark took advantage of its trips to the free throw line, connecting on 10-of-13 in the final 20 minutes and 18-of-25 for the game.

Brooke Martel (Griswold, Conn.) paced Becker with 14 points and four assists, while Mojica added 13 points and ten boards. Chila chipped in with ten points and six rebounds before fouling out and Ooms stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds and nine assists but she did commit ten turnovers.

In addition to Reilly's performance, Condon finished with a game-high 18 points and four assists, Brooke Brennan (Weston, Mass.) totaled nine points and five rebounds and Megan Grondin (Cumberland, Maine) added eight points and three boards.