Eastern Nazarene Narrowly Escapes Lasell's Women's Hoops, 61-56

NEWTON, MA- Eastern Nazarene's women's basketball team pulled out a narrow 61-56 victory over the Lasell College Lasers on Monday night in non-conference play at the Lasell Athletic Center.  The Lions enhanced their overall record to 3-14 while the Lasers' record lands at 1-16 this season.

Alexis Malloy (Washington, DC) generated a contest-best 23 points, scoring on 10-of-19 chances from the floor.  The sophomore forward also grabbed 13 rebounds and picked up five steals for the Lions.  Dianna Bonds (Marietta, GA) also produced a double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds and Shardae Brown (Waterbury, CT) scored 10 points and added nine boards.  Ace Carradine (Honolulu, HI) produced a team-best five assists in the contest. 

For Lasell, Kayla Vincelette (Westport, MA) recorded 16 points, Tracy Elwell (Watertown, MA) added 11 and Kara Hinthorne (Rockland, MA) produced 10.  Elwell shot 4-for-5 from the floor, 2-for-2 from downtown, and 1-of-2 from the line all in the second half to give Lasell a late spark.  JoAnna Bishop (So. Burlington, VT) added nine points for Lasell, while Kim Archibald (Lewiston, ME) collected eight rebounds and Katie Farr (Rindge, NH) distributed five assists.  

The Lions shot fairly consistently throughout the contest, converting on 28-of-64 total chances in the game, good for a 43.8% team field goal percentage. After shooting 42.3% (11-26) in the first half, Lasell faltered a bit in the second, dropping to just 31.0% (9-29), and finished the contest connecting on 36.4% of their attempts (20-55).  Eastern Nazarene also held a significant edge on the glass, grabbing 46 rebounds to Lasell's 30.  

Eastern Nazarene put points up first when Malloy got a bucket underneath, but Farr put Lasell on the board moments later by penetrating to the hoop for two and Vincelette followed to give Lasell the lead early, at 18:22.  Coates changed the favor to the Lions side at 16:40 with a short jumper in the middle of the lane, but Vincelette evened things out at 6-all shortly thereafter.

At the 15 minute mark, Hinthorne checked in for the Lasers and immediately hit a three to put Lasell up 11-8. Three minutes later, the Lions reclaimed control of the scoreboard with a layup by Bonds and subsequently went further ahead, 16-13, on a jumper by Malloy.  

The squads traded leads again when Ashley Slattery (Weymouth, MA) pulled up on the elbow to bring the Lasers within one and Vincelette followed by cutting through the middle for an easy layup to go ahead 17-16.

The score continued to alternate over the next six minutes leading up to a Lasell lead, 26-22, on a pair of Bishop free throws with 3:16 on the clock.  For the duration of the half, Eastern went on a 10-2 run to take a 31-29 lead into the break.

Malloy produced almost half of the Lions points in the half, going 6-for-10 from the field with three free throws for 15 total points, as well as five rebounds. Bonds added eight points and five boards for the Lions.  As a team, Eastern Nazarene hit on 14-of-30 chances, shooting 46.7% from the floor.

Lasell was led by Vincelette at the break with 10 points, shooting 5-for-10.  Hinthorne added eight points and Bishop notched seven for the Lasers.  Lasell connected on 11-of-26 shots in the half, and was 100% from beyond the arc.

Lasell tied things up at 31-all immediately in the second half on a post basket by Vincelette. Eastern then leveraged another 10-2 streak to bring the score to 41-33, topped off with a Ja'na Jenkins'(Oakland, CA) jump shot at the 17 minute mark.

Hinthorne netted two at the line to bring the gap to six for Lasell, and Elwell followed one more  bringing the score to 41-36 with just under 15 minutes to play. A fast break by Bonds and back-to-back offensive second chance shots by Brown gave the visitor their first double-figure lead of the game at 12:45, with a 47-36 advantage.

A Bonds layup extended the Lions edge to 13, at which point ten points by Elwell brought Lasell back within five, at 8:14.  Elwell started with a three and a jumper in consecutive plays to bring Lasell back under 10. Another trey by Elwell after a timeout brought the score to 49-44 and a final basket in the paint, after a Brown layup, closed out the stretch with Lasell barely in arrears, 51-46.

Two more freebies by Bishop closed the Lasers to within three with six minutes to go.  With four minutes on the clock, Malloy netted a bucket from the top of the key to put the Lions on top 55-50, but Archibald countered with a hook shot in the next possession to keep the spread at three.

With one minute left to play, Eastern had a five point advantage, 59-54, after Carradine made two free throws. A steal by Carradine and a fast break by Bonds put the game out of reach of Lasell in the final 20 seconds. 

Lasell returns to action on Saturday, January 29th when they hit the road to Saint Joseph College of Connecticut for a 1:00 p.m. Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest.