SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. (Feb. 5, 2011) – Senior guard Christine Chancy drained a long jumper at the buzzer to boost the Mount Holyoke College women's basketball team to a thrilling 59-57 triumph over Clark University this afternoon at the Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium. With the win, the Lyons completed the season sweep of their NEWMAC counterparts. It was their fourth straight win over the Cougars.

Sophomore Angelica Pascual was nearly unstoppable for Mount Holyoke, which has now picked up four victories in its last seven outings. The guard piled up 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting from the floor. She canned three shots from beyond the arc and made all four of her free throws. It was the third time this season that she has scored 20 or more points. Chancy recorded nine of her 12 points in the second half, while first year forward Jennine Vizcaino pulled down a career best 15 rebounds. As a team, the Lyons shot 40.4% (23-57) from the field and finished with a 44-26 edge on the glass. Junior forward Tricia Chase added 10 boards, while senior Emilie Methot dished out five assists.

Clark was paced by first year guard Emily Reilly, who collected 17 points, six rebounds and four assists. Classmate Megan Grondin registered 11 points, while junior forward Ivori Aiken chipped in with six points and eight boards. The Cougars shot 44.9% (22-49) from the floor and made five three-pointers.

Pascual erupted out of the gate, scoring nine points in the first five minutes. Her layup at the 15:25 mark put Mount Holyoke in front 13-4. After a short stint on the bench, she returned to score eight more points over a span of four minutes. Her third trey of the game gave the Lyons a 23-17 with 6:43 remaining in the opening frame.

Clark chipped away at the lead for the remainder of the half, eventually slicing the deficit to 27-26 on a jumper by Grondin with just under a minute to go.

Mount Holyoke went into the locker room with a 29-26 edge following a long jumper by first year guard Annabel Barrett in the waning seconds. Pascual led all scorers with 19 points at the intermission. Reilly had eight for the guests.

The Cougars knotted things up at 29-29 on a three-pointer by junior forward Kate Minister on their first possession of the second stanza. Methot answered with a trifecta at the other end, starting an 11-4 Mount Holyoke run. The hosts enjoyed a 41-33 advantage following a short jumper by Barrett at the 13:41 mark.

They led 49-43 after a layup by Vizcaino with 6:46 remaining in regulation, but Clark scored seven of the next nine points to trim the margin to 51-50 with four minutes left. Reilly started the rally with a three-pointer, and Aiken followed with back-to-back baskets.

Trailing 55-50 with just over two minutes to go, Clark ran off five straight points to knot things up at 55-55.  Minister closed out the spurt with a fadeaway jumper at the 1:07 mark. The game was still tied after Chancy and Aiken exchanged baskets.

Mount Holyoke called a timeout with 24 seconds remaining to set up its final possession. Coming out of the break, the Lyons turned to Chancy, who calmly swished a long jumper from just inside the arc as time expired.

Clark was awarded half a second to play with, but its desperation heave from three quarters court fell well short.

Chancy and Reilly each scored nine points in the second half. Mount Holyoke never trailed in the contest.

Both squads will resume their NEWMAC schedules on Wednesday. The Lyons (6-14, 4-10 NEWMAC) will visit WPI at 7:30 p.m., while Clark (8-13, 7-7 NEWMAC) will host Smith College at 5:00 p.m.