SOUTH HADLEY, Mass. -- Clark University stayed unbeaten in NEWMAC women's basketball with a 56-36 win at Mount Holyoke on Saturday in Mildred S. Howard Gymnasium, in the closest game between the teams in over a decade.

The visiting Cougars' (12-5, 3-0 NEWMAC) disruptive defense limited Mount Holyoke (4-13, 0-3 NEWMAC) to .222 shooting from the field, including .045 (1-22) from three-point territory.

Clark shot .393 from the field and only .188 from three, but the Cougars outrebounded Mount Holyoke 42-34 and outscored the Lyons 13-4 in second-chance points. The Cougars made 15 steals and had a 31-12 advantage in points off turnovers despite a closer 29-23 difference in turnovers committed between the teams.

Thirteen Cougars scored in the game, led by first-year point guard Atiya Watson's nine points, to go along with her game-high six assists. Leilani Benson also scored nine points off the bench. Catherine Antwi led the Cougars with five rebounds and four steals off the bench, and she played a key role in Clark's decisive second quarter in which the Cougars outscored Mount Holyoke 13-4. Antwi had five points, two rebounds and a steal in five minutes of action in the quarter.

Senior guard Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) led Mount Holyoke with a game-high 10 points and eight rebounds. Senior Taryn White (Alexandria, Va.) scored seven points with five rebounds, senior Hannah Goen (New London, N.H.) contributed six points, two assists and two steals, and sophomore Ania McMichael (Glastonbury, Conn.) had three assists and three steals off the Lyons bench.

The 56-36 final score indicated a much closer game than the teams' previous 11 meetings: between the 2015-16 and 2024-25 seasons, Clark went 11-0 against Mount Holyoke with an average 50.7-point margin of victory.

On Wednesday at 6pm, the Lyons will play at Wheaton College.