NEWTON, Mass.– Junior Morgan Church (New London, N.H.) scored eight of her team-high 12 points in the first half to help pace the Lasell College women's basketball team to a 47-39 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in the season opener for both teams.
Along with her 12 points, she also grabbed eight rebounds, had four assists, and three steals. Sophomore Liz Bougie (Sanford, Maine) also pulled down eight rebounds in the win.
Junior Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) was the only Wentworth player to reach double-digits, scoring a game-high 15 points. Senior Kellie Messer (Hollis, N.H.) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for the Leopards.
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 three 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.
