Fitchburg, Mass. – Visiting Clark University raced out to an early 13-0 lead and held Fitchburg State without a basket for the first seven minutes and never looked back enroute to a convincing 76-31 win over the Falcons in non-league women's basketball action on Tuesday evening at Fitchburg's Recreation Center.

Ahead 17-3 after the first quarter, the Scarlet and White blew things open in the second quarter outscoring the Falcons 24-6 in the frame including scoring the first 16 points. When the smoke cleared to end the half, Clark was in total control, 41-9.

Fitchburg State finally got its offense into somewhat of a groove in the third where they scored 15 points – six more than they did in the entire first half. Even still, they were down 57-24 after three periods.

The Falcons struggled shooting from the field the entire contest, connecting on just 19 percent of its shots, including a 1-for-11 performance from behind the arc the aided in them falling behind by as many as 45 points. Clark's defense forced 32 turnovers and had 20 steals.

The Cougars meanwhile, shot 50 percent from the field (32-for-64) and controlled the interior, outscoring the hosts 48-16 in the paint and had a 29-10 edge in points off of turnovers.

Freshman Ogechi Ezemma (Hope Valley, R.I.) led all scorers with a career-high 14 points on 7-for-12 shooting, while classmate Maya Kerstetter (Northampton, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.  

Another pair of freshmen – Cori Ouellette (Madison, Conn.) and Emmi Graebner (Bad Homburg, Germany) – also had strong efforts in the victory. Ouellette had four rebounds and a game-high five assists in just 16 minutes, while Graebner totaled eight points on 4-for-4 shooting in only seven minutes.

Erika Schneider (Rockland, Mass.) led Fitchburg State with 13 points. No other player for the Falcons had more than five points.

The Scarlet and White return to action on Friday when they host Connecticut College in their home opener. Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m.