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Women's Basketball

Slow Start Dooms Cougars In Title Game Loss

Box Score

Leicester, Mass. - Led by MVP Yasmeen Luna (North Providence, R.I.), the WPI women's basketball team won the 35th Annual Worcester City Tournament with a 53-37 triumph over Clark Saturday afternoon. It is the Engineers second consecutive title and seventh overall.

WPI is off to a 2-0 start for the second year in a row while Clark moves to 1-1 on the season. The NEWMAC foes, who have squared off in the past four city title games, will meet just once during the regular season on January 23 at Clark. Worcester State defeated host Becker 56-34 in the consolation game.

In addition to Luna, the All-Tournament Team was comprised of Tess Noguiera (Merrimac, Mass.) along with Clark sophomore Sam O'Gara (Worcester, Mass.) and freshman Kacey Legare (Chicopee, Mass.), as well as Worcester State sophomore Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) and Becker freshman Adrianna Dowdy (East Haven, Conn.).

Junior Priscilla Dunphy (Barrington, R.I.) scored a game-best 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting with a pair of three pointers to pace the Engineer offense. Senior Lisa Mendez (Yonkers, N.Y.) chipped in with 11 as Noguiera added nine and senior Jessica Larsen (Poway, Calif.) pitched in with seven.

The Cougars received nine points, and three steals, from O'Gara followed by rookie Cori Ouellette (Madison, Conn.) with six points and sophomore Torieana St. Pierre (Portsmouth, N.H.) with five. Freshman Ogechi Ezemma (Hope Valley, R.I.) led Clark with eight boards.

WPI held the advantage in field goal (36.8) and three point (31.3) percentage while the Cougars were slightly more efficient at the charity stripe (53.3). The Engineers also scored 10 more points off turnovers (22-12) and six more in the paint (24-18). Clark's bench, meanwhile, doubled the Engineers output 24-12.

The Engineers raced out to a 12-0 lead behind a pair of 3-pointers and a jumper by Dunphy but Maya Kerstetter (Northampton, Mass.) halted the initial outburst with a layup 5:02 into the contest. The Cougars managed to win the second quarter (12-11), keyed by a triple and a jumper by St. Pierre, and held WPI scoreless for the final five-plus minutes however, it remained a double-digit margin until O'Gara hit a jumper with exactly five minutes left in the third.

The Engineers advantage moved back into double digits for the final time following a Dunphy layup with 6:37 to play. WPI scored 10 of the final 14 points enroute to the victory.

Clark returns to action on Tuesday with a visit to Fitchburg State Tuesday for a 5:30 p.m. matchup.

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Players Mentioned

Ogechi Ezemma

#20 Ogechi Ezemma

C
5' 11"
Freshman
Maya Kerstetter

#34 Maya Kerstetter

SF
5' 8"
Freshman
Kacey Legare

#5 Kacey Legare

G
5' 7"
Freshman
Sam O

#11 Sam O'Gara

G
5' 5"
Sophomore
Cori Ouellette

#21 Cori Ouellette

G
5' 3"
Freshman
Torieana St. Pierre

#25 Torieana St. Pierre

G/F
5' 10"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Ogechi Ezemma

#20 Ogechi Ezemma

5' 11"
Freshman
C
Maya Kerstetter

#34 Maya Kerstetter

5' 8"
Freshman
SF
Kacey Legare

#5 Kacey Legare

5' 7"
Freshman
G
Sam O

#11 Sam O'Gara

5' 5"
Sophomore
G
Cori Ouellette

#21 Cori Ouellette

5' 3"
Freshman
G
Torieana St. Pierre

#25 Torieana St. Pierre

5' 10"
Sophomore
G/F