NEWTON, Mass- The Lasell College women's basketball team picked up their second win of the season Saturday afternoon after defeating Great Northeast Athletic Conference rival Simmons 56-50. Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.) led the way for the Lasers scoring with 20 points and adding ten rebounds, with Danielle Auntencio (Montville, Conn.) chipping in thirteen points for the home team.

The visiting Sharks got on the board first after a trey from Hannah May (Hamden, Conn.). The game remained close as the two teams exchanged the lead seven times up until just under the 14:00 minute mark, when Lasell went on a 10-2 run which gave them a 21-14 lead at 5:59.

Simmons answered back with a 10-3 run, trailing by only one with 1:39 remaining in the first half. Lasell's Ashley Fry (South Kingston, R.I.) answered back with a jumper to keep the Lasers in the lead at 26-23, with 1:16 remaining. A free throw by Kim Archibald (Lewiston, Maine) and a trey from Justine Ryan (Norwood, Mass.) with seconds remaining gave Lasell a 30-25 edge at halftime.

May led all scorers in the first half with 16 points, shooting four for six from behind the arc. Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.) led the Lasers with ten points, two assists, and two blocks. Lasell shot 42.3% from the paint while the Sharks shot 31%. Ryan added nine points for the home team shooting three for four from behind the arc.

Lasell came out of the break hot, on a 6-2 run but Simmons would not give up, using two Liz O'Connor (Milton, Mass.) free throws and another May trey, to cut the deficit to four, at 36-32 with 14:08 remaining in the game. The Sharks kept it a close game trailing by no more than eight throughout the next eight minutes.

At 5:57 the Sharks tied up the game at 46 apiece after a Georgia Kostopolous (Cambridge, Mass.) layup. Shortly after that two Kostopolous free throws gave the Sharks their first lead of the second half at 48-46. Two Kara Hinthorne (Rockland, Mass.) free throws for Lasell tied the game back up with 4:16 remaining.

Lasell continued to push through the final minutes of the game, holding a 53-48 lead at the 2:00 minute mark. As the clock ran down Lasell held their lead to walk away with the 56-50 GNAC victory.

May finished with nineteen total points while O'Connor added twelve for Simmons.
Lasell moves to 2-15 on the season, 2-5 in the GNAC while Simmons falls to 3-13 overall, 1-5 in the GNAC.

Lasell takes a break this week and won't play again until Saturday, January 28th at Anna Maria at 1:00 p.m. The Sharks return to the court on January 26th at home vs. Saint Joseph's College (Maine) at 7:00 p.m.