NEWTON, MA- The Lasell College women's basketball team hosted St. Joe's of Maine on Tuesday evening in Newton for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference matchup.  The Lasers struggled on both sides of the ball, falling 67-29 to the Monks. 

Lasell took an early 4-0 lead in the game but after a 13-1 run by the Monks the Lasers found themselves trailing 13-5 with just under seven minutes remaining in the first half. A Sarah Assante (Standish, ME) trey at 6:33 followed by a Danyelle Shufelt (Sutton, VT) layup put the Monks up by thirteen. With 4:30 remaining in the first half, Lasell fell to 24-5, the biggest margin of the game when Assante hit both of her free throws.  The Lasers scored the next two baskets on lay-ups by Ashley Fry (South Kingston, RI) and Kayla Vincelette (Westport, MA) to bring the score to 24-9.  The teams combined for six free throws to close the half with Lasell trailing 28-13. 

Alexis Chappell (Springfield, MA) led the Lasers with five first half points and three rebounds. The Monks were led by Megan McDevitt (Cumberland, ME) with seven points and five rebounds. The Monks capitalized on free throws in the first half too, shooting 92.9% from behind the line, connecting on thirteen of fourteen.

St. Joseph's was able to continue their first half momentum throughout the rest of the game. Shooting 52.2% from the field in the second half along with continuing their free throw success, they were able to hold off the Lasers all game. The Monks were led by McDevitt who tallied seventeen points and seven rebounds in the win. The Lasers were led offensively by Justine Ryan (Norwood, MA), who totaled 11 points while shooting three for four from behind the three point line.

St. Joe's picks up their first conference victory of the season and improves to 6-6 overall. The Monks will travel to GNAC competitor Norwich on Saturday, January 14th. With today's loss, Lasell falls to 0-12 overall, 0-2 in the GNAC.  The Lasers will travel to Emerson this Thursday, January 12 for a 7:00 p.m. conference match-up.