Newton, Mass (11/15/12) - The Lasell College women's basketball team opened their 2012-13 campaign with a 55-42 victory over the visiting Leopards of Wentworth, in the season opener for both squads.

Sophomores Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.) and Danielle Autencio (Montville, Conn.) scored 16 and 12 points respectively for the Lasers, with Autencio pulling down a team-high nine rebounds, while senior Kim Archibald (Lewiston, Me.) collected eight caroms and Chappell seven.

Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) paced the Leopard attack with 14 points, while Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) finished with 12 points on four three-pointers. Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Me.) pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds.

Lasell used a 16-0 run in a nine minute stretch in the first half to turn a 10-10 game into a 26-10 lead with 1:44 left in the first half. The Lasers used 59% shooting in the opening half, compared to 17.2% for the Leopards to take a 28-12 lead after the opening 20 minutes.

Wentworth opened the second half on an 8-3 run to trim the Lasell lead to 31-20 with 15:46 remaining, but Lasell responded with an 8-0 run to push their lead back to 39-20. The Leopards continued to push, trimming the Lasell lead to 13 on multiple occasions, and 11 with :48 seconds remaining, but Lasell was able to hold on for the season opening victory.

Wentworth will return to action when they travel to Pine Manor for a 1 p.m. road contest, while Lasell will host Daniel Webster at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.