NASHUA, N.H. (2/6/14) – The Lasell College women's basketball fell just short of handing Rivier their first loss in Great Northeast Athletic Conference play, dropping a 78-75 result on the road Thursday evening. The loss drops Lasell to 9-11 on the season and 2-4 in conference play, while Rivier remains perfect at 7-0 in the league while improving to 17-3 on the season.
Alexis Chappell recorded a double-double for Lasell with 20 points and 14 rebounds, adding five steals in the contest. Molly Lauver scored a season-high 21 points including knocking down 5 of 10 from behind the arc for the Lasers and Kayla Vincelette netted 14 points to go with four assists.
Rivier placed four players in double figures as Deanna Purcell and Savanna Butterfield each scored 15 points, while Caitlyn Perry and AJ Guidi added 14 and 12 points respectively off the bench. Butterfield grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds while Ryan Baker dished out a game-high seven assists.
The back-and-forth affair featured 11 ties and 18 lead changes and neither team claiming a lead bigger than seven points throughout the contest. Consecutive three pointers by Purcell and Perry put Rivier in front 10-7 with 12:10 to play in the opening half, and the hosts pushed their lead to 23-17 at the 8:06 mark courtesy of another Perry triple. Lasell used a 9-3 spurt that ended with a Lauver three pointer to tie the score at 26-26 with 6:39 left in the half.
The Lasers trailed 31-29 with just over four minutes to play in the half before scoring nine of the next 11 to take a 40-33 lead with 2:14 before intermission. A Chappell free throw gave Lasell a 41-36 lead heading into the break.
The Lasers pushed their lead to seven points, 47-40 two minutes into the second half, but Rivier scored the next nine to take a 49-47 lead with 16 minutes remaining. The two teams would trade the lead over the next several minutes of action, and Lasell went ahead by five, 70-65 with 5:36 remaining on a driving layup by Vincelette. The Raiders responded with back-to-back three pointers to go back ahead 71-70 and after each team converted a pair from the line the hosts led 73-72 with two minutes to play. Consecutive empty trips for the Lasers combined with a Butterfield jumper and a free throw from Baker put Rivier on top 76-72 with 35 seconds remaining.
A Lauver three pointer with 4.6 seconds to play cut the Rivier lead to 76-75, and following a pair of free throws by Baker a failed desperation attempt left Lasell on the short end of a 78-75 result.
The Lasers will return to action on Saturday February 8th when they host Simmons College at 1:00 p.m. in their "Play 4 Kay" event to help raise money for the Kay Yow foundation.