Clutch Seniors Lead WPI Past Clark in NEWMAC Quarterfinal

Worcester, MA --- Baillie McNally (Mapleville, RI) drained all eight of her free throws attempts in the final 1:06 to help sixth-seeded WPI defeat third-seeded and host Clark 65-55 in a NEWMAC Women's Basketball Tournament quarterfinal contest on Wednesday evening.  

With the win, the Engineers (11-15) advance to their seventh straight semifinals where they will meet second-seeded Smith on Saturday afternoon at 3pm at Babson.  Clark wraps up its outstanding season with a 16-10 record. 

McNally, who did not score a point until her free throw binge, played all 40 minutes doling out four assists and making two steals while committing only two turnovers.  As a team, the Crimson canned 19-of-20 free throws, including 13-of-14 over the final 1:06. 

The Cougars led 43-42 with 6:46 remaining before WPI scored 10 of the next 12 points to seize a lead it would not relinquish.    

Clark forced WPI to miss nine of its first 10 attempts from the floor en route to jumping out to a 13-6 advantage before the visitors, buoyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Kelly Morgan(Brookline, NH), ran off 12 straight points to claim a 16-13 advantage with 6:12 left in the first half.  The Cougars, who received eight points in the opening stanza from Kelsey Giedyman(Shrewsbury, MA) then embarked upon a 13-4 spurt to grab a six-point lead but a pair of Engineer field goals in the final 30 seconds before the break slice the deficit to 26-24. 

Senior Lauren Hannmann (East Greenbush, NY) led all players with 17 points while Cindy Chelius (Northfield, NJ) and Siena Mamayek (Melrose, MA) both flirted with double-doubles.  Mamayek tallied 12 points and eight rebounds while Chelius notched 12 points and gobbled up a game-best nine boards.  Morgan added 10 points for the Engineers. 

Giedymin led the Cougars with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting, while Emily Reilly (Marlboro, MA) added 14 and Ashleigh Condon (Hull, MA) chipped in with ten points and eight rebounds.