NEW LONDON, Conn. – The Mitchell College women's basketball team pulled away in the second half to win 82-52 against Lesley University on Saturday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference action at the Yarnall Athletic Center.
Senior Kate Mulloy (Garnder, Mass./Gardner) led all scorers with a career-high 23 points and added 10 rebounds and five assists to lead to Mariners (2-5 overall, 2-1 NECC). Freshman Caycee Williams (Torrington, Conn./Torrington) also recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds while sophomores Savannah Boyle (Attleboro, Mass./Attleboro) and Amanda Garcia (New Britain, Conn./New Britain) chipped in with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
Jackie Ewing (Hong Kon, HK/Hong Kong International) led three Lynx in double figures with 12 points. Grace Amato (South Royalton, Vt./Woodstock Union) finished with 11 points and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line while Ari Dimou (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Memorial) contributed 10 points and five rebounds.
Mitchell took its first lead of the contest at 7-6 following a free throw by Mulloy just over four minutes in and never trailed again. Lesley kept it close until around the 12-minute mark when the Mariners went on a 15-3 run to break the game open. Six players scored for Mitchell during the span, and a three-pointer by Williams capped the stretch and gave the home team a 30-18 advantage with 6:50 to play in the half.
Leading 41-31 at the break, Mitchell came out in the second half and consistently worked the ball into the paint. Both Mulloy and Williams did their damage from close range, helping the Mariners finish with a 38-14 advantage in points in the paint.
Mitchell never let the lead slip below double digits and scored 14 straight points midway through the stanza to bump the margin to 26 at 64-38. Boyle drilled a trio of three-pointers during the stretch to lead the attack while Garcia added a pair of buckets.
The Mariners shot 37 percent from the floor in the contest and held a 59-36 edge on the glass. Lesley shot 27 percent from the field and went 18-for-27 from the foul line.
Mitchell will next host Purchase College on Thursday, December 12 at 6 p.m. Lesley returns to action at home against Emerson College on Tuesday, December 10 at 8 p.m.