Newton, Mass. (02/07/13) – The Lasell College women's basketball dropped a non-conference match-up against Keene State College, 60-52 on Thursday evening. The victory pushes the Owl's record to 9-13 on the year while the loss drops Lasell to 9-13 overall.
Molly Lauver (Springfield, Mass.) finished with a team-high 17 points for Lasell, Danielle Autencio (Montville, Conn.) added a double-double with 10 points and a season-high 15 rebounds and Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.) chipped in 15 points and seven rebounds for the Lasers.
Siobhan Carnell (Quincy, Mass.) scored a game-high 23 points and a team-high 11 rebounds to lead the way for the Owls, who also got 16 points from Christan Wojtas (Amherst, N.H.).
Lasell held the visiting Owls to 35.4% shooting from the floor including 2-14 from downtown, but Keene State grabbed 17 offensive rebounds and forced 23 turnovers to offset their cold shooting night.
The opening half featured a nip and tuck affair with five ties and five lead changes and neither team holding more than a three point edge as the Owls took a 22-21 lead into intermission.
Keene State opened the second half on a 9-5 run and built a 30-25 edge with 15:18 remaining in the game. Lasell answered with seven straight points, five from Chappell and a pair of free throws from Kayla Vincellette (Westport, Mass.) to take a 32-30 lead and 11:37 to play.
Keene responded with a 6-0 spurt regain the lead with 36-32 at the 9:07 mark, but Lasell came charging back. A three point play by Ginelle Cola (Lowell, Mass.) followed by a trifecta from Lauver put Lasell ahead gave the hosts a two point cushion, and when Autencio converted two free throws the Lasers held a 40-36 lead with 7:24 left in the contest.
Carnell knocked down an elbow jumper and when she split a pair of shots from the charity stripe the Owls trailed 42-41 with just under six minutes to play. The two teams traded the lead twice over the next two and a half minutes, and Lasell held a 47-46 lead courtesy of a pair of free throws by Autencio with 3:05 left.
A layup by Carnell at the 2:39 mark put the Owls in front 48-47, and following a Lasell miss a Wojtas jumper gave the visitors a three point advantage. The Lasers turned the ball over leading to a Laurie Allen (Medford, Mass.) lay-up the pushed the hosts deficit to five points with 1:47 to play.
Lasell got a lay-in from Lauver to cut the lead to 52-49, but the Lasers were unable to get any closer the rest of the way as Keene State closed out the game from the free throw line to pick up the 60-52 road victory.
Lasell will travel to St. Joseph's College (Maine) for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference match-up on Tuesday Feb. 12th, followed by a home game against Anna Maria on Thursday Feb. 14th in a make-up of their postponed Feb. 9th fixture.