Nashua, N.H. – Ashley England (Old Town, Maine) netted a game-high 17 points and Kayla Free (Quincy, Mass.) added 16 to lead host Daniel Webster College past the Lynx, 69-49 in a New England Collegiate Conference matchup Thursday night at Mario Vagge Gymnasium. 

Rookie Natasha Santana (Lawrence, Mass.) picked up 10 points, eight rebounds, a game-high six assists and pulled in three steals, and fellow freshman Escarlin Reynoso (Lawrence, Mass.) notched 10 points with seven boards as the Eagles improved the 3-12 on the season and 3-5 in NECC play. Natalie Nagle (Dolgeville, N.Y.) pulled down a game-best 10 boards for the Eagles while Amanda Gendron (Mont Vernon, N.H.) added six caroms. McKenzie Stone (Shelton, Conn.) chipped in with five points and four boards.

Grace Amato (Sharon, Vt.) led the Lynx, who fall to 1-14 overall and 1-7 in the conference, with 11 points and added seven rebounds while Kerry Flaherty (Woburn, Mass.) picked up eight points and nine boards. Jackie Ewing (Hon Kong) and Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) finished with eight points each. 

The teams stayed close throughout the first half and were tied with as late as eight minutes to go in the period before DWC put together an 11-3 run keyed by a pair of England jumpers and a Gendron three that opened up an eight-point lead (25-17) with 2:31 to go. Another England jumper in the closing seconds kept the lead at eight (31-23) into the break.

Lesley worked the deficit down to five (34-29) after a Rathjens layup at the 17:45 mark of the second but went scoreless over nearly six minutes and Free would bury three jumpers as part of a 10-0 run that opened up a 15-point Eagle lead.

A Ewing trey with 11:34 left puled the Lynx back to within 12 (44-32) but Free answered with a 10-foot pull up, nailed a three from the right corner, and Santana converted inside to swell the lead to 21 with 9:31 remaining. 

DWC, which trailed only once in the opening minute, finished with a 53-43 advantage on the glass and posted a key 32-10 scoring advantage off turnovers. The Eagles shot 32-percent overall but struggled from beyond the arc (17-percent).

The Lynx get right back into NECC action on Saturday as they host Southern Vermont College at 8:00p while the Eagles also return to the conference play on Saturday as they travel to Regis College at 3:00p.

Release courtesy Daniel Webster College Sports Information