WBK: Carroll and Nealy lead Lasell to first win of the new year

Northfield, Vt. – Senior Meg Carroll (Douglas, Mass.) and freshman Juju Nealy (Fitchburg, Mass.) led the Lasell University Lasers women's basketball team to a, 72-59, victory over the Norwich University Cadets in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference clash, Saturday at Andrews Hall Gymnasium.

Carroll led the way tallying a double double scoring 21 points and adding 12 rebounds. Nealy scored 19 points and had 4 steals while senior Brooke Damboise (Bolton, Conn.) had 10 points. Freshamn Jasmine DePina (Providence, R.I.) rounded out the Lasers in double figures scoring 10 points and completed her double double by bringing down 13 rebounds.

Freshman Haley Brewster (Virginia Beach, Va.) led the Cadets with 16 points and brought down 11 rebounds for the double double. Senior Hannah Stitely (Westminster, Md.) had 14 points on an efficient six of seven shooting.

The Cadets started the game out well scoring the first five points of the game with makes by Stitely and sophomore Rachel Botala (Grand Isle, Vt.). The Lasers clawed back on two straight layups by Carroll. The Lasers could not get closer than one the rest of the quarter as Norwich had always had the answer to Lasell. Norwich scored six of the last nine points of the game go carry a five-point lead into the second quarter.

Just like in the first, Norwich started the second strong opening with another 5-0 run over the first two and a half minutes. Similarly, to the first, Carroll answered the 5-0 run by Norwich with four straight points of her own. This helped spur the Lasers on as after the 5-0 run by the Cadets to start the game they score 10 of the next 12 points getting the Norwich lead down to two. Norwich answered back quickly getting their lead back to five on makes by junior Alexis Matte (Lebanon, N.H.) and a Botala three. Lasell got the game even with just over two minutes to go after graduate student Peyton Young (Douglas, Mass.) answered the Botala three with one of her own and Damboise made a layup. The Cadets then scored five unanswered only to be matched by the Lasers who scored six straight and entered the half with their first lead following a made layup by Nealy with three seconds remaining in the quarter.

Both teams started the third quarter trading baskets as Lasell could not get a lead bigger than three through the first five minutes of the game. The Lasers finally got a little breathing room with 4:10 left in the quarter. Two makes by Carroll, a layup by DePina and a layup by freshman Jess Carney (Westport, Mass.) pushed the lead to seven. The Cadets were able to claw one point back over the last three minutes of the quarter to trail Lasell 49-43 with one quarter remaining.

Nealy took control in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 of her 19 points in the quarter. Nealy gave the Lasers their first double figure lead of the game on the three with 6:55 left in the fourth. The Cadets did not stop fighting back getting the game down to seven points with three minutes remaining. That was the closest Lasell let the game get the rest of the way, with Nealy scoring eight of the last twelve points to close out the Cadets.

The Lasers will be back in action on Wednesday, January 12, when they play host to Albertus Magnus College. The GNAC matchup will tip-off at 5:30 p.m.