Women's Basketball Falls at Albertus Magnus, 75-57

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (1/17/17) -- The Lasell College women's basketball team suffered a 75-57 loss to the host Falcons of Albertus Magnus College in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest Tuesday at "The Nest."

The loss drops Lasell to 5-9 overall and 2-5 in GNAC play, while Albertus snaps a two-game losing streak as its record improves to 9-7 and 4-3 in conference games.

Junior Brianna Hoffman (Milford, N.H.) led the Lasers with 13 points in 34 minutes off the bench, while Morgan Church (New London, N.H.) was the lone Lasell starter to finish in double figures, scoring 12 points to go along with five rebounds, five assists and a steal. Hoffman also added five rebounds, three assists and a steal.

Junior Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Conn.) scored 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and added 11 rebounds for her tenth double-double of the season for Albertus. Four other Falcons scored in double digits, including Angelina Piccirillo (Naugatuck, Conn.) with 16 points.

Church broke a scoring drought of more than two minutes at the start of the game, hitting a three-pointer to give Lasell its first and only lead with 7:41 to play in the first quarter. AMC immediately responded as Piccirillo and senior Liz Falcigno (Wallingford, Conn.) split the scoring on a 10-0 run, but the Lasers scored seven of the frame's final 12 points to cut the hosts' lead to 19-12.

Sophomore Taylor Hughey (Redding, Calif.) hit a three-pointer with five seconds left in the first to equal that score, counting for three of her eight points on the night. After that, AMC extended its lead with a 24-point second quarter, a frame in which Hoffman accounted for six of Lasell's 14 points.

The Lasers held a 15-14 scoring advantage in the third quarter, cutting their deficit to ten points with a 7-0 run in the middle stages. Another three from Hughey was the last basket in that stretch, before Bolden sank her first of two straight free throws at the 5:22 mark.

Hoffman scored Lasell's first five points in the final frame, hitting a triple 52 seconds into the fourth and a jumper a little over a minute later to bring the Lasers with 61-46. AMC scored a 10-0 run just before the halfway mark of the frame to extend its lead to 73-49 before free throws accounted for six of Lasell's last seven points, four of which came from Church.

The Lasers return to home action on Thursday, January 19 at 7:00 p.m. against the Sharks of Simmons College, while the Falcons are on the road to take on Mount Ida College that same night at 6:00 p.m.