WORCESTER -- The Clark women's basketball team denied WPI's bid for its nine-straight Worcester City Tournament Championship, as the Cougars notched a 67-49 victory over the Engineers to capture the WCT title in the 42nd iteration of the event on Saturday at Worcester State.
The Cougars also snapped WPI's 17-game WCT winning streak, moving to 2-0 on the season, while the Engineers fall to 1-1. In the consolation game, Worcester State (1-2) topped Anna Marie (0-2), 72-60.
For Clark, Kumi Tamura (Whittier, CA) and Jacqueline Faulise (North Kingstown, RI) earned All-Tournament Team selections with Faulise earning Tournament MVP honors. WPI's Adrianna Niles (Tewksbury, MA) also earned an All-Tournament nod.
The Engineers were led by Emmy Allyn's (Rutland, MA) 14 points, while Alice Kelly (Wethersfield, CT) added 11 points and five rebounds. Niles led WPI with eight rebounds, while Ally McMorrow (Quincy, MA) had six points and a pair of steals.
Clark saw four players finish in double figures in scoring, led by Faulise's 15 points and six rebounds. Alaina Schatzabel (Kennebunk, ME) had 12 points, while Tamura had 11 and Kailey Rios (Hesperia, CA) notched 10 points with six boards.
Clark set the tone of the game in the first quarter, out-scoring the Engineers 18-4. The Cougars led 9-4 midway through the period and then locked down on defense, not allowing a WPI point the rest of the frame.
Clark pushed the lead to 22-4 before WPI's offense came alive in the second quarter. Threes from Kelly and Femke Jansen (North Granby, CT) sparked a surge that closed the gap to 26-14 with 4:59 left. The Cougars responded with an 11-2 run that pushed the lead back to 37-16 with just over two minutes left. WPI closed the quarter on a 6-0 run but still trailed by 15 (37-22) at the break.
Another hot offensive third quarter saw Clark extend its lead to 22 points, as the Cougars outscored WPI 14-7 in the frame. Sarah Zambrano (South San Francisco, CA) scored six points for the Cougars in the quarter, as the lead was extended to 51-29.
WPI used an early fourth-quarter run to get the deficit down to 16 points (53-37) on an 8-2 run sparked by six from Allyn. Clark pushed the lead back to 20 (57-37) on a free throw from Faulise, but WPI answered with a 12-3 surge that made it an 11-point game (60-49) with 2:54 to play. From there, it was all Clark however, as the Cougars scored the final seven points of the game to take the WCT title.
Clark finished the game 26-57 (45.6%) from the field and 5-15 (33.3%) from three, holding WPI to 16-53 (30.2%) from the field and 6-28 (21.4%) from long-range. The Cougars also held a 38-33 edge on the glass and won the turnover battle, forcing 22 WPI giveaways.
WPI is back in action on Tuesday, hosting Regis at 7pm, while Clark plays Wednesday at Fitchburg State at 6pm.