Worcester, Mass. – Visiting Springfield College raced out to an 18-2 lead and never looked back dispatching of Clark University, 63-41, in New England women's And Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Thursday evening at the Kneller Athletic Center.

The Pride got a huge performance from freshman Ava Adamopoulos (Ludlow, Mass.), who came off the bench to finish with 26 points and 12 rebounds – both career-highs. She led an offensive attack that outscored Clark 42-16 in the paint and held huge advantages in points off of turnovers (16-6) and bench points (36-4).

It was nearly 11 minutes into the contest before the Cougars made their second basket – a Megan Grondin (Cumberland, Maine) inside hoop – but by then Springfield was in full command.

Their lead ballooned to 16 on a couple of occasions and peaked at 17 a couple of times - once when Adamopoulos made two free throws, giving them a 28-11 advantage and again when Jaime Bickelhaupt (Brookfield, Conn.) finished inside in the final minute of the half, making the score was 30-13 at halftime.

Clark got the lead down to 12 a few times early in the second half, the last time coming on a Brooke Brennan (Weston, Mass.) three-pointer that made the score 40-28 with a little less than 13 minutes left to play.

Springfield answered that with a 9-0 run, pushing their lead to 21 at 49-28 as Bickelhaupt scored five straight during the run, highlighted by an excellent reverse layup.

The Pride's advantage maxed out at 24 when Adamopoulos scored inside in the waning minutes before the difference ended at 22.

Springfield controlled the glass, holding a 46-27 edge on the backboards, as Bickelhaupt (11) and Emily Gins (Fort Myers, Fla.) (12) joined Adamopoulos in double figure rebounds.

Lexi Windwer (Milton, Mass.) was actually the only other Springfield player in double figures with ten points, but Bickelhaupt added seven points and four steals to her totals.

Ashleigh Condon (Hull, Mass.) was the only Clark player to reach double figures, finishing with 13 points. Grondin chipped in with nine points and Emily Reilly (Marlboro, Mass.) added seven points, eight rebounds and three assists.

Clark (8-13, 5-11 NEWMAC) has now dropped four straight and will have six days off until returning to the hardwood on Wednesday with a road trip at Wellesley.

Springfield (12-9, 8-8 NEWMAC), meanwhile, will host Wellesley on Saturday.