NEWTON, Mass. – Junior Ari Dimou (Manchester, N.H.) finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting with a team-high four assists, but it was not enough as Pine Manor College raced past the Lynx 105-66 in the season opener for both squads. Gators senior Nathasha Franklin (Windsor, Conn.) led all players with 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting to lift Pine Manor their second consecutive season-opening victory.
Freshman Kerry Flaherty (Woburn, Mass.) recorded a double-double in her collegiate debut, finishing with 14 points to go with her 12 rebounds. Flaherty also went a perfect 6-6 at the free throw line. Senior Grace Amato (Sharon, Vt.) came off the bench to score 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting while pulling down seven boards. Junior Jackie Ewing (Hong Kong, China) chipped in with seven points while first-year Kelsey Lynch (Rumford, R.I.) finished with six in her debut.
Pine Manor sophomore Jayva Johnson (West Haven, Conn.) knocked down three triples on her way to 17 points on the afternoon while sophomore Maria Vaughan (Okinawa, Japan) recorded a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 12 assists. Junior Sybil Lynch (Hoboken, N.J.) went 4-of-10 from downtown as she finished with 12 points for the hosts.
The Gators knocked down three straight treys and capped an 11-0 run to open the game with a Vaughn layup and never trailed in the game. Lesley battled back with a 13-8 stretch to powered by four points from Amato to pull within six, but the Gators quickly responded by scoring ten of the game's next 12 points to build their lead back to double-figures.
The Lynx shot an impressive 48-percent from the floor on the afternoon and held a slight 45-44 advantage on the glass, but the Gators defense caused 37 Lesley turnovers - including 23 coming off steals - to disrupt the Lynx offense.
Lesley will return to the floor and play game two of their three-game road swing on Thursday, November 20th when they travel to Mount Ida College at 6:00p. The Gators will be back in action on Tuesday, November 18th as they open their road schedule when they travel to Becker College to square off with the Hawks.