Worcester, Mass. – Visiting Emerson College led by as many as 20 points before holding off a game Clark University squad for a 72-63 win in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) women's basketball action on Saturday afternoon, securing the seventh and final seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

The Lions improve to 12-13 overall and 6-10 in league contests, and will face second-seeded Wheaton College on Wednesday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. in Norton.

Clark, meanwhile, sees its season come to an end at 5-20, having lost their final three contests.

In a contest that featured a whopping 53 turnovers, it was Emerson who took the most advantage, turning the Cougars' 27 miscues into 29 points as they built a 35-15 lead in the first half before settling for a 38-21 edge at the break.

Clark mounted a comeback in the second half courtesy of their seven made three-pointers in the final 20 minutes.

Incredibly, the Scarlet and White got as close as eight points after Gwyneth Ivory (Ashland, Mass.) scored inside off of a feed from Brooke Brennan (Weston, Mass.) with less than nine minutes to play.

Any hopes of a victory for Clark were dashed as the Lions built their advantage back to as many as 19 on an Emily Cameron (Culver City, Calif.) free throw.

The Lions were led by and extremely productive group of reserves who outscored the Clark bench, 57-13.  Eastin Ashby (Pittston, Pa.) led all scorers with 18 points, five rebounds and six steals and fellow reserves Kelsey Johnson (Syracuse, N.Y.) and Sierra Ducey (Poway, Calif.) combined for 31 points.

Clark was paced by the first career double-double from Ivory (11 points, career-high 12 rebounds) and 13 points and six rebounds from Aretha Sullivan (Worcester, Mass.).