SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Feb. 16, 2008- Senior Tara McCarthy (Bristol, R.I.) poured in a game-high 24 points to pace the Springfield College women's basketball team to a 79-64 win over visiting Clark in New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Blake Arena.
With the win, the Pride now stands at 13-9, 8-3 in league play, while the Cougars fall to 8-14, 4-7.
With her 24 points, McCarthy moved into fourth place on the Springfield College women's basketball all-time scoring list. To date, McCarthy has netted 1,316 points in her career at Springfield. She passes Sharon Playdon (1981-1984), who tallied 1,313 points in her career.
The Springfield College men’s and women’s basketball teams played this afternoon with an eye towards assisting the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) “Think Pink” initiative.
This year, the initiative is running from February 8 through 17. As many as 900 colleges and universities throughout the nation have planned events designed to assist in raising breast cancer awareness on the court, across campuses, and in communities and beyond, during the week.
Springfield wasted no time jumping all over the visiting Cougars as it opened up a 9-0 lead after a three-pointer from Rachelle Walker (Lee, Mass.) at the 16:38 mark. The Pride continued its pressure and impressive offensive display as it led by as many as 18, 30-22, in the first half. Springfield shot 47% in the opening stanza and created 15 points off Clark turnovers.
But Clark's pressure defense and a full-court press that bothered the Pride in the second half, allowed CU back into the game. The Cougars opened up the second half on a 23-11 run, cutting the Pride's lead to just three, 56-53, after a lay up by Sarah Roderigue with 12:05 left in the game. Over the next 9:24, the Pride rattled off a 19-3 run to own a commanding 75-56 lead after a Christine Cotter (Stoughton, Mass.) free throw. The 19-point lead marked the Pride's largest lead of the game as SC held on for the 15-point win.
McCarthy connected on 8-of-11 from the field to go along with five boards and three assists. Cotter added 14 points and needs just six more to become the 12th player in program history to register 1,000 points in her career. For the game, SC shot 44.8% from the field. Lauren O'Connor (Valhalla, N.Y.) added six points and nine boards while Liz Brosseau (Franklin, Mass.) recorded eight points, eight rebounds, and three steals.
Rodrigue netted 16 points in the loss for Clark while Jillian Camilleri added 14 points. Clark was held to just 27.8% shooting from the field as it had 72 shots in the game. The Cougars connected on 19-of-23 from the charity stripe.
Springfield returns to action on Wednesday evening when it hosts Smith at 7:00 pm. Clark will host Wellesley at 7:00 pm that same evening.
Entering her 22nd season as head coach in 2012-13, Naomi Graves has directed her squads to an impressive 306-156 record (.662 winning percentage) since joining the Division III ranks in 1995. Graves has led the Pride to 12 post-season bids in the past 17 years, including five berths in the NCAA Division III Tournament.
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