NEWTON, Mass. – The Lasell women's basketball team dropped a 66-57 decision to the Mustangs of Mount Ida College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action Tuesday evening. With the loss, the Lasers drop to 4-4 in the conference and 11-10 overall, while Mount Ida earns its first win against Lasell since 2012 and improves to 5-15 and 3-5 in the GNAC.
STAT LEADERS FOR LASELL
Lasell was led offensively by senior Katie Stopera (Hollis, N.H.) who finished with a game high 21 points on 7-of-31 shooting, while shooting 4-of-4 from the line. Sophomore guard Sherilyn Small (Springfield, Mass.) finished with a double – double, grabbing 10 rebounds and 12 points; Senior guard Deanna Barrett (Berlin, Conn.) and freshman forward Brianna Hoffman (New Mildford, N.H.) both tallied eight points as well.
STAT LEADERS FOR MOUNT IDA
Angie Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) tallied her 12th double – double of the season and her sixth in the last six games with 16 rebounds and 20 points while teammates Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.) and Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) tallied 12 and 10 points respectively. Jesse and Liotta also combined for 12 rebounds. Breanna Muir (Wareham, Mass.) totaled eight points and five rebounds while Brittany Crosby (Riverside, R.I.) put home nine points and seven boards. Marysa Dwyer (Quincy, Mass.) put together another tremendous defensive effort for the Mustangs in the win.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Lasers opened the first quarter of play on a 9-0 run started by Barrett who opened things up for Lasell with a three pointer before Small put home a layup to give the visitors the early cushion. Stopera hit a jumper at the 7:50 mark while teammate Hoffman knocked down a fifteen footer to put Lasell out on top 9-0 before an immediate timeout from Mount Ida.
Liotta converted her first shot from three point land to put an end to the Laser run while GNAC leading rebounder Martinez also knocked down her first shot of the game in the paint to bring the hosts back within four.
At the 3:13 mark of the opening frame, Martinez hit back to back layups in between a Hoffman made shot from downtown to cut into the Lasell lead at 19-14. Brittany Crosby (Riverside, R.I.), Liotta, and Molly Alkinburg (Port Deposit, Md.) all made consecutive field goals while Stopera put the Lasers back up by three with a jumper at the 0:30 second mark. Jesse and Small would convert hoops on both ends of the floor with Lasell up 26-24 after one.
After a momentum shift after the first ten minutes of play, the Mustangs outscored Lasell 18-9 in the second quarter and used a 10-0 run of their own, while Lasell remained scoreless until the 3:41 mark on a Liz Bougie (Sanford, Maine) jump shot. After four straight free throws from Crosby and Martinez, Jesse buried a jumper and the Mustangs would take a 42-35 lead at the break.
The Mustang run in the second quarter put them ahead for good and Lasell never had the lead again in the second half of play. Both teams notched just thirteen points in the third quarter while Mount Ida held a 55-48 lead with ten minutes left to play.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Lasers shot 17.9 % from the field while shooting 11.8 % from beyond the arc for the game and were unable to muster a run that would get them back within striking range. Both teams again struggled from the field in the fourth quarter while both teams combined for just 20 points.
Crosby and Liotta tallied four free throws down the stretch to seal the GNAC win for the Mustangs and put them in position to make a playoff push.
WHAT'S NEXT
Lasell will return to their home court on Saturday when they host Albertus Magnus at 2:00, while Mount Ida is back in action on Saturday in Standish, Maine when they are entertained by the Monks of St. Joe's (ME) with tipoff set for 1:00.
Recap Courtesy of Mount Ida Sports Information