NEWTON, Mass. (1/16/14) – The Lasell College women's basketball team pulled away from the visiting Gators of Pine Manor College in the final five minutes of Thursday's non-conference match-up to earn the 82-74 victory. The Lasers evened their record at 7-7 for the season, while handing Pine Manor their second loss of the season dropping them to 10-2.
Katie Stopera (Hollis, N.H.) posted a double-double with a team-high 23 points and 10 rebounds while adding six assists for the Lasers and Danielle Autencio (Montville, Conn.) finished with a double-double of her own scoring 14 points while grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds and handing out six assists to go with three blocked shots. Kayla Vincelette (Westport, Mass.) added 19 points for Lasell along with seven rebounds, five assists while blocking four shots and freshmen Sherilyn Small (Springfield, Mass.) scored a career-high 16 points.
Ari DeJesus (Providence, R.I.) scored a team-high 23 points for Pine Manor while grabbing a game-high 15 rebounds and she was joined in double figures by Maria Vaughan (Okinawa, Japan) with 14 points and Alexis Lee (Akron, Ohio) with 10 markers.
The opening half saw Lasell maintain a slim margin over the visiting Gators for the majority of the half, leading by as many as eight points, but being unable to stretch their advantage to a comfortable margin and taking a 36-32 lead into the intermission. Pine Manor converted eight of 11 attempts from the foul line to help then remain within striking distance as the Lasers shot 4-7 from three point land in the opening half while turning the ball over six times to the Gators 13 turnovers.
The opening 12 minutes of the second half featured eight ties and four lead changes as Lasell claimed a 58-56 lead on a fast break layup by Small with 7:55 left in the contest. A three point play by Vincelette made it a 61-56 game, and the senior forward scored six of the next eight points as Lasell maintained their lead at 69-63 with 3:45 left in the game.
Deanna Barrett (Berlin, Conn.) helped put the game away for Lasell as her wing jumper with 2:27 left made it a 75-65 Lasell lead and her three-pointer with 1:30 left gave Lasell a 78-67 edge. Stopera and Vincelette closed the game out from the free throw line with a pair of free throws each as the Lasers picked up the 82-74 victory.
Pine Manor will host the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Saturday January 18th at 1:00 p.m. while the Lasers will resume Great Northeast Athletic Conference play on Monday January 20th when they host Emmanuel College in a 7:00 p.m. match-up.