Newton, Mass. (01/23/2013) - The Lasell College women's basketball team struggled shooting the basketball early in Wednesday night's Great Northeast Athletic Conference game, falling 71-58 at Albertus Magnus College. Lasell slipped to 8-9 on the year overall and 3-3 in conference play, while the Falcons moved to 14-3 on the year and 4-2 in league action.

Lasell's Molly Lauver (Cambridge, N.Y.) finished with 22 points and four steals, and Ginelle Cola (Lowell, Mass.) tallied 17 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Lianna Carrero (Hamden, Conn.) scored a game-high 30 points to lead Albertus Magnus, who got 15 points from Annie Sutila (Bridgeport, Conn.) and Kendra Walker (New Haven, Conn.) added 14 points and 8 rebounds  for the Falcons.

Lasell opened the game by taking a 3-0 lead on a Lauver three pointer, but then went cold from the floor, falling behind as the hosts scored 19 unanswered points. Cola hit a free throw to break the scoring drought and then got a pair of layups in the paint to keep Lasell in the game at 21-8 with 8:11 to play in the first half. The two teams traded baskets over the remainder of the half, sending the Falcons into the half with a 32-19 lead.

Lasell opened the second half by scoring seven of the half's nine points to trim the hosts lead to 34-26 over three and a half minutes. A pair of Carrero triples would restore the Falcons double figure lead at 40-28, but Lasell would keep coming.

The Lasers used five points from Lauver and four from Cola to put together an 11-4 run, cutting the deficit to 44-39 with 10:51 to play in the contest. Lasell missed their next four shots as Albertus went on a 9-0 run to push their lead back to 53-39 8:33 left.

Lasell would trim the Falcons lead to seven on three more occasions, but were unable to get any closer as the dropped the game, 71-58.

Lasell will return to the floor on Saturday January 26th when they visit Emmanuel College for a 1:00 p.m. conference contest.