Islamorada, FL – Simmons Basketball fell to Daniel Webster College, 56-45, in Saturday's opening round of the Key Largo Classic at Coral Shores High School. The Eagles' junior Vanessa Bosques notched a double double with a game-high 18 points and added 10 rebounds while fellow junior Sarah Paternostro added a game and career-high 12 rebounds, along with a game-best seven assists. With the win, Daniel Webster advances to 6-2 on the season while the Sharks drop to 4-5 with the loss.

Junior Alycia Gervais added 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals and the Eagles took advantage of paltry first-half shooting by the Sharks, who connected on just four field goals and were limited to just 10 points in the opening frame.

Thanks to Bosques's and Paternostro's board work, the Eagles finished with a 47-41 advantage on the glass, offsetting an otherwise cool shooting evening of their own. DWC finished just 31-percent from the field including 27-percent in the second half allowing Simmons to make a late run to close within nine before the Eagles pulled away down the stretch. The Eagles were also aided by a 26-16 scoring advantage in the paint and held the Shark bench scoreless on the afternoon.

Liz O'Connor (Milton, Mass.) paced the Shark attack with 16 points and 10 boards, while Brittany Dolloff (Hollis, N.H.) scored 14. Leah Davis (Cranston, R.I.) chipped in with seven rebounds, five points and three steals.

DWC held Simmons scoreless until 7:04 remained in the first half when Simmons' Alex Acloque (Randolph, Mass.) posted a layup for a 14-2 game. Bosques would finish with 11 in the half and DWC took a 33-10 lead into the break.

The Eagles held as much as a 25-point lead after an Alyssa Regan layup made it 43-18 with 14:36 to go in the second.

But a brutal Eagle stretch followed over the next 5:13 with seven straight missed shots and five turnovers and Simmons took full advantage.

An O'Connor layup started a 16-0 run punctuated by a Dolloff trey with 10:46 left and a Acloque jumped in the lane that whittled the lead all the way down to nine (43-34) with 9:23 to go.

A Sarah Clark free throw and Kirsten Murphy layup stopped the bleeding and a huge three from Bosques with 3:46 left pushed the lead back to 13 (52-39) and Simmons pulled no closer than nine over the final three minutes.

The Sharks will return to action on January 2 when they face Montclair State at 5:00pm for their second tournament contest. The Eagles will return to action on Monday, January 3 when they face Gordon College in the tourney's conclusion at 1:00pm.