Courtesy of Springfield College Sports Information
SPRINGFIELD, Mass., Feb. 28, 2004. Clark University freshman forward Ashley Auclair (Williamsburg, Mass.) scored 17 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Cougars to a 68-59 win over top-seed Springfield College in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women's Basketball Championship tonight in Blake Arena.

Clark (21-6) earns the NEWMAC's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The NCAA bracket will be announced Sunday, February 29th at 10:00 pm. This is the Cougars' first win in the conference championship game since the 1999-2000 season, when they beat Wellesley, 62-57.

SC junior forward Kacey Wunsch (Londonderry, N.H.) had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and sophomore forward Katie Trice (Concord, N.H.) added 12 points and seven boards for the Pride (18-10), which saw its three-year reign as NEWMAC champions end.

The Cougars dominated the final 10:09 of the first half, outscoring SC 27-12 to take a 41-25 lead at intermission. Junior forward Echo Freeman (Maynard, Mass.) came off the bench to score nine points and gather eight boards in the half as the Cougars out-rebounded SC, 11-4, on the offensive glass.

Trailing by as many as 18 in the second half, SC fought back and whittled the lead to 60-55 on a three-pointer by freshman guard LaToya Franklin (Latham, N.Y.) with :55 left. That was as close as the Pride would get, however, as Auclair scored six points in a :24 span in the final minute.

2004 New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Championship
Friday, Feb. 27, Semifinals (Blake Arena, at Springfield College)
No.2 Clark 64, No. 3 Mount Holyoke 59
No. 1 Springfield College 73, No. 4 WPI 51

Saturday, Feb. 28, Championship
No. 2 Clark 68, No. 1 Springfield College 59