PAXTON, Mass. --- The Lasell College women's basketball team earned its first Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) win of the season, defeating Anna Maria College 68-61 on Saturday afternoon at the Fuller Activities Center.

The Lasers improve to 4-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference, while the AMCATS drop to 2-8 overall and 0-3 in GNAC play.

Lasell went 22-of-59 for a 37.3 field goal percentage, while the AMCATS shot 36.2 percent from the field on 21-of-58 shooting. The Lasers also outshot Anna Maria from three-point range going 10-for-25 to the AMCATS 9-for-26 day. Anna Maria converted 10-12 from the charity stripe while Lasell finished 14-22 from the line including 13-16 in the fourth quarter. The AMCATS were strong under the boards as they outrebounded Lasell 41-39, despite a game-high 13 rebounds from Lasell sophomore Jaime Caron (Derry, N.H.).

The Lasers led for most of the first half before junior guard Kristina Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) drained a last second three-pointer to give the AMCATS a 34-33 lead entering half time. Senior Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) led the team in the first half with 14 points and seven rebounds. Taylor Hughey (Redding, Calif.) led the Lasers in the first half with 11 points while Morgan Church (New London, N.H.) followed with 10 points.

The Lasers quickly regained their lead after the break with a layup made by Church followed by a layup and three-pointer by Brianna Hoffman (Milford, N.H.) (40-36). The Lasers were able to hold onto the lead for the remainder of the contest adding 28 more points and holding the AMCATS to just 24. Church led the Lasers in the second half with 12 points while senior Deja Taitt (Cambia Heights, N.Y) led the AMCATS with nine. Sophomore Becca Fenton (East Hartford, Conn.) joined Church (22), Hughey (11) and Hoffman (12) in double-digit scoring with 12 points, going 4-of-5 from behind the arc.

The Lasers will host Rivier University on Tuesday, January 10 in the first half of a GNAC doubleheader (6:00 p.m.), while Anna Maria welcomes Suffolk University for a GNAC contest on the same day.

Recap Courtesy of Anna Maria College Sports Information