NEWTON, Mass. (11/15/16) -- The Lasell College women's basketball team opened its 2016-17 season with a 47-39 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology on Tuesday night in the Athletic Center.
The Lasers improve to 1-0 on the season, while the visiting Leopards drop to 0-1.
Junior Morgan Church (New London, N.H.) led the Lasers with 12 points, eight of which came in the first half. Church and sophomore Liz Bougie (Sanford, Maine) pulled down eight rebounds apiece to tie for the team lead, while Church also paced the Lasers with six assists and three steals.
Junior Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) was the only Wentworth player to reach double-digits, scoring 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field. Senior Kellie Messer (Hollis, N.H.) led the defensive effort with nine rebounds.
Wentworth scored the first four points of the contest, but Lasell used back-to-back three-pointers by Church and Madison Cota (Bellows Falls, Vt.) to take a two-point lead it would never relinquish. The Lasers finished the quarter with a 16-6 lead before extending their advantage to 27-16 by halftime.
Sabino scored the visitors' first four points from the field in the third, a quarter in which Wentworth held a 14-10 scoring advantage. She wound up scoring nine of her team-best 16 points in the second half.
Junior Brianna Hoffman (Milford, N.H.) also reached double-digits for the hosts, scoring six of her 11 points in the second half, while pulling down four rebounds. Hoffman hit one of her team-best triples with less than seven minutes to play in the contest, giving Lasell a 40-33 advantage to open a mini 5-0 run.
Wentworth scored four straight points thereafter, but sophomore Becca Fenton (East Hartford, Conn.) hit three free throws in the final 90 seconds to close out the victory for the Lasers.
Lasell returns to action on Thursday, November 17 at 7:00 p.m. when it travels to face the Vikings of Salem State University. Wentworth is next in action the following night in the opening game of the Brandeis University Tip-Off Tournament, facing the host Judges at 5:00 p.m.
