BOSTON, Mass. -- Sophomore guard Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Simmons University women's basketball team in a 78-41 loss to host Emerson College today at Bobbi Brown & Steven Plofker Gym in Boston, Mass. The Sharks fall to 3-9 on the season, while the Lions improve to 8-4.
Emerson dominated the second quarter to put the game away for good, outscoring Simmons, 31-6, in the period. The Lions controlled the boards with a 40-26 rebounding advantage and outscored the Sharks 19-2 in second chance points. Emerson also forced Simmons into 23 turnovers, leading to a 30-13 scoring advantage in points off turnovers.
Stapelfeld netted 20 or more points for the sixth time this season and was flawless at the free throw line, making all four of her attempts to extend her consecutive made free throw streak to 14 in a row for the Sharks. She also added three rebounds, two assists and a steal. Senior Molly Phillips (Cranston, R.I.) contributed with eight points, a rebound, an assist and a block.
Sophomore forward Sam Boyle (Scotts Valley, Calif.) paced the Lions with 14 points and four blocks to go with two rebounds, a pair of steals and an assist, while junior guard Kate Foultz (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) chipped in with 13 points, including a pair of three-pointers, and added two assists, a rebound and a steal. Junior guard Quinn Madden (Mokena, Ill.) dropped in 11 points, grabbed seven rebounds, picked up three steals and handed out an assist.
Simmons erased an early 4-2 deficit with five straight points from Stapelfeld to take a 7-4 margin with 7:23 to play in the opening quarter. Stapelfeld made a lay-up later in the period to give the Sharks a 9-7 lead with 5:22 showing in the quarter, before Emerson closed out the quarter with eight straight points, paced by four points apiece from Boyle and Foultz, to take a 15-9 lead after one quarter.
The Lions broke open the contest in the second quarter, while holding their guests to just 1-8 shooting from the floor and putting together an 11-21 shooting effort on their own, including six made three-pointers. Emerson dominated the first six minutes of the second quarter with a suffocating 19-2 run, fueled by nine points from Madden, to take a 34-11 cushion with 4:06 to play in the half. Stapelfeld buried a trifecta at the 3:48 mark, but Simmons managed just a single made free throw for the rest of the period as the Lions took a 46-15 lead into the break.
The Sharks regrouped and played the home team close in the second half, but were never able to make up the deficit. Senior forward Charlie Boyer (Scotts Valley, Calif.) converted a lay-up for Emerson with 7:44 left in the third quarter to give the Lions a 52-18 lead, but Simmons scored the next 10 points, capped by a three-pointer from senior guard Rebekah Carroll (Londonderry, N.H.), to pull the Sharks to within 52-28 with three and a half minutes to go in the period. Emerson reeled off nine unanswered points as part of a 12-2 burst to close out the quarter, including four points each from Sam Boyle and first year forward Katie Beckmann (Sarasota, Fla.), to increase its lead to 64-30 at the end of three quarters of play.
The Lions scored 11 of 15 points to begin the fourth quarter, behind a pair of three-pointers from senior guard Natalie Busch (Weybridge, England), to take their largest lead of the day at 75-34 with 5:32 remaining in the game. Emerson maintained a 77-36 lead with 3:20 showing in the contest, before first year guard MiAngela Ramos (Hamden, Conn.) and junior forward Kirra Courchesne (Wilmington, Vt.) each scored two points for Simmons to make it 77-40.
The Sharks return to the court on Tuesday, January 8 at Moore Gymnasium when they host Lasell College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference opener at 7:00 p.m., while the Lions travel to Babson Park, Mass. to take on Babson College at 6:00 p.m.