Keene, N.H. (1/09/14) – The Lasell College women's basketball opened their 2014 slate of games on Thursday evening, suffering a 108-62 non-conference loss at Keene State College. The Lasers saw their record dip to 6-6 on the season, while the Owls improved to 8-3 for the campaign as they captured their fourth straight victory.
Katie Stopera (Hollis, N.H.) led the Lasers with 17 points, including going a perfect 12-12 from the charity stripe, and Danielle Autencio (Montville, Conn.) added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds in the loss.
Christan Wojtas led all scorers with 26 points and converting eight out of 10 attempts from behind the three point line. Carly Kiernan added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Owls, who also got nine points and seven rebounds from Amanda Petrow off the bench.
The hosts broke open a 5-4 game in the early going with 11 unanswered points to build a 16-4 lead just five minutes into the half. Lasell was unable to keep pace with the torrid shooting of the hosts, as Keene State shot 54% from the floor in the first half and 55% from three point land as they raced out to a 47-30 lead at intermission.
The hosts cooled a bit in the second half, shooting 48% from the floor and 41% from distance, but Lasell struggled to find the range, converting on only 40% of their shots including a 1-11 effort from three point territory. The shooting disparity combined with the Owls holding a plus-31 edge ended in a 108-62 loss for Lasell.
The Lasers will look to bounce back on Tuesday January 14th when they open Great Northeast Athletic Conference play with a road contest at Suffolk at 7:00 p.m. before returning home for their final non-conference match-up of the season against Pine Manor on Thursday January 16th at 7:00 p.m.