WORCESTER, Mass. – Despite a career-game from Emily Sifferlen (North Andover, Mass.), the Clark University women's basketball team fell, 90-85, in a tightly-contested overtime matchup with Coast Guard Academy Saturday afternoon in the Inaugural Red Classic at the Kneller Center.

The Basics

Score: Cougars 90, Bears 85 (OT)

Records: Clark University (5-18, 1-7 NEWMAC) | Coast Guard Academy (15-9, 4-5 NEWMAC)

How it Happened

Sifferlen erupted in the game, scoring a career-high 32 points while registering five rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. The sophomore finished 10-of-20 from the floor while hitting on 9-of-15 from the charity stripe in 42 minutes of action. Junior Hannah Favaloro (Blackstone, Mass.), who also played 42 minutes in the setback, registered a double-double of 21 points and ten rebounds while dishing out three assists and coming away with two steals.

Sophomore Hallie Johnson (Princeton, Mass.) also enjoyed a strong day offensively, matching her career-high output of 19 points while corralling ten rebounds for her seventh career double-double. Ginny Benbow (Durham, Conn.) rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Cougars with 19 points on 5-of-8 from the floor in just 15 minutes of action.

For the Bears, Brenna Wood dropped a team-high 18 points to go with a game-high 18 rebounds, leading four starters in double-figures for the host. Coast Guard also received support off the bench with Jacqueline Ward and Branyelle Carillo chipping in with 16 and 13 points respectively.

The teams opened up the contest evenly matched as the Bears held a five-point advantage after the first quarter at 15-10 with Favaloro and Sifferlen kicking in four points apiece for the Cougars.

Clark put forth its strongest quarter of the game in the second, outscoring the opponent by a 25-17 margin over the span. The host was able to tie the score, 17-17, as a three-pointer from Johnson capped off a 7-0 personal run for the sophomore.

Moments later, the Cougars had a lead on a triple from Sifferlen with 5:52 to go until the break. The teams traded buckets down the stretch with Favaloro scoring four points as part of a 6-2 scoring run over the final 1:06 of the half before heading into the locker room with a 35-32 deficit.

Coast Guard came out of the locker room strong with a three-pointer from Kyra Hartman and Annabella Farabaugh getting the Bears started. With a 54-51 deficit, the Cougars continued to fight, as Sifferlen knocked down a trey to tie it up 54-54 with 51 seconds to go.  

The battle continued into the fourth quarter as the Cougars pulled to within one point with 8:15 left in regulation following a lay-in from Favaloro. The Bears re-extended the advantage with a quick five-point burst before a three-pointer by Benbow made it a 64-61 gap with 5:34 to go.

With 3:14 on the clock, Clark was able to again put pressure on the Bears with a lay-up from Benbow following a free-throw from Favaloro for a one-point deficit.

The teams again exchanged baskets until a lay-in from Benbow tied it up at 71-71 with 30 seconds left before a pair of free-throws from Sifferlen gave the Cougars a two-point lead with under ten second on the clock. Coast Guard was able to respond, however, as Emma Puddington knocked down a layup just before the buzzer to send the game to overtime.

In the overtime session, Coast Guard was able to hold a 17-12 lead in scoring during the extra frame as Ward led a group of six different scorers for the Bears over that time. The visitors pulled away in the final 30 seconds knocking down 6-of-6 from the free-throw line to secure the 90-85 result.

The Cougars finished the day 31-of-76 from the floor (40.8%) and hit on 7-of-21 from beyond the arc (33.3%) while the Bears were 32-of-95 (33.7%) and 8-of-33 (24.2%) in the same categories. Coast Guard held a 61-53 lead on the glass in the contest.

Up Next

The Cougars returns to the Kneller on Wednesday, February 19 as it hosts Wheaton College for the final home contest of the 2019-20 regular-season. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 PM.