NEWTON, Mass. – Junior Tianna Sugars (Oxford, Maine) poured in a career-high 29 points on 11-of-19 shooting Saturday afternoon to lead the Colby-Sawyer College women's basketball team to a 61-55 victory over Lasell in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action at the Lasell Athletic Center.
The Chargers had to hold on after Lasell had sliced fourth-quarter 10-point margin to a two-point game, 57-55, with two minutes to go. But Sugar made a basket with 36 seconds remaining to stop the comeback, and added a free throw with six seconds remaining to cap off the victory.
Colby-Sawyer, in its first season in the GNAC, increases its win streak to six games to improve to 11-4 overall and 3-0 in the conference. Lasell falls to 5-9 overall and 0-2 in the conference.
Lasell received 15 points and eight steals from reigning GNAC Player of the Week junior Amanda Ortiz (Newton, Mass.). Graduate student Breanna Muir (Wareham, Mass.) scored 13 points and brought down seven boards. Junior D'Asia Allen (Providence, R.I.) added 11 points, while senior Liz Bougie (Sanford, Maine_ recorded 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds.
Sugars made her only three-point attempts and went 6-of-7 from the free throw line. She added nine rebounds and two blocks. Sophomore Joslin Wainwright (Plainfield, N.H.) was the only other Charger to reach double figures with 12 points to go with a game best 10 rebounds. Junior Kristen Donaghey (Franklin, Mass.) contributed nine points and nine rebounds. Junior Lexie Hamilton (Sunapee, N.H.) added 10 assists and nine rebounds.
After a Sugars trey opened the game, the Chargers would hold a lead for the entirety of the first quarter and lead 12-9 after 10 minutes.
The home team tied the game with an Allen three-pointer to begin the second quarter. Colby-Sawyer answered seconds later with a pair of free throws to take a 14-12 lead, 53 seconds into the second. The game went scoreless for the next two minutes until two freebies for Sugars pushed the Colby-Sawyer advantage to 16-12. Allen then made two three-pointers sandwiched around a Sugars layup to tie the game at 18-18. The visitors scored the next six points, but Lasell finished the quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 27-24 lead at the half.
Colby-Sawyer regained a lead, 34-32, when Donaghey converted a conventional three-point play. The Chargers held the lead for the remainder of the frame and outscored Lasell 18-12 to lead 42-39 after three. Each team made eight free throws in the quarter. Colby-Sawyer had five field goals, while the Lasers had just two.
The Chargers increased its lead to 10 points to begin the fourth and never looked back. A Bougie trey did bring Lasell within a pair, 57-55 with 2:15 to play, but Colby-Sawyer did not allow Lasell to put any more points on the board en route to the 61-55 victory.
Lasell has a week off before hosting Regis College in a GNAC affair next Saturday, January 19, at 2:00 p.m. Colby-Sawyer will travel to 10th-ranked and 15-0 Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Tuesday evening.
(Courtesy of Colby-Sawyer Sports Information)
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