NORTON, Mass. – First year forward Regan Keyter (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) scored 10 of her game-high 16 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Wheaton College (Mass.) women's basketball to a 60-53 comeback victory over visiting Clark University this afternoon in New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference play at Emerson Gymnasium on the Wheaton campus in Norton, Mass.

The Lyons improve to 12-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play, while the Cougars fall to 9-11 and 0-5.

Wheaton trailed by nine points at the half, but held Clark to just 17.9% (5-28) shooting from the floor in the second half, while the Lyons' offense outscored the Cougars in both the third and fourth quarters by identical counts of 21-13. Wheaton held its guests to 22.8% (13-57) from the floor for the game and owned a 43-36 rebound margin. The Lyons committed 32 turnovers, but Clark only outscored the home team by seven points (30-23) in points off turnovers.

Keyter was 7-9 from the field to go with four rebounds, two assists and a pair of blocks for Wheaton. First year guard Kiki Walters (Fleetwood, Pa.) posted her fourth double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 boards in addition to three assists and two steals, while sophomore guard Abby Fernandes (Assonet, Mass.) chipped in with eight points, seven rebounds, four assists, a steal and matched her career best with three blocked shots.

Junior forward Alaina Schatzabel (Kennebunk, Maine) led the Cougars with 13 points and seven rebounds to go with four steals, while junior guard Jacqeline Faulise (North Kingstown, R.I.) contributed with 11 points, three rebounds, five steals and two assists. Graduate student guard Cam Richey (Upton, Mass.) came up with a career-high nine steals and added seven points, two rebounds and an assist.

Schatzabel made a layup with 9:22 to go in the fourth quarter to give Clark a 42-39 lead, but sophomore guard Greta Minos (Boston, Mass.) countered with a three-pointer at 8:39 to pull the Lyons even at 42-42 and ignite a 15-6 stretch that gave Wheaton a 54-48 lead with 1:54 remaining in the game. Keyter (seven) and Walters (five) combined for 12 points during the fateful run that gave the Lyons the lead for good.

Faulise made all three free throws on a three-shot foul and then added a fastbreak layup to pull the Cougars to within a point at 54-53 with 1:28 showing on the fourth quarter clock, but it was as close as the visitors would get for the rest of the game. 

Keyter banged a three with 32 ticks left on the clock and sophomore guard Riley Sprague (Jamestown, R.I.) canned three free throws down the stretch to score the final six points of the game and give Wheaton a seven-point victory.

The Lyons took an early 9-5 lead with 2:28 left in the opening quarter, paced by four points from first year forward Nasha Arnold (North Reading, Mass.). Richey hit a floating jumper for Clark to pull the visitors to within 9-7 at the end of one quarter of play.

Keyter scored the first four points of the second quarter to give Wheaton a 13-7 lead with 8:54 left in the period. The Cougars seized the momentum and used four Lyon turnovers to fuel 12 unanswered points to give them a 19-13 advantage with 3:21 showing on the second quarter clock. 

Minos knocked down a jumper outside the paint to make it a one possession game at 21-18 with 94 seconds to play in the half, but Clark closed out the quarter with six straight points, including four from Richey, to take a 27-18 halftime cushion.

Senior guard Jalin Waters (Waterbury, Conn.) drained a trifecta to give the Cougars their largest lead of the afternoon at 32-21 with 8:07 to go in the third quarter, but the Lyons roared back to reclaim the lead. 

First year guard Madeline Duwe (Greenville, S.C.) stuck back-to-back three-balls to give Wheaton a 39-38 edge with 46 ticks left in the third period. Schatzabel sank a pair of free throws to take back the lead at 40-39 before the final quarter of play.

The Lyons will return to action on Wednesday, February 1 when they travel to Northampton, Mass. to take on Smith College in league play at 7:00 p.m., while Clark hosts Springfield College for a conference tilt at the same time on the same night.