BROOKLINE, Mass. – The Lesley University women's basketball team dropped their second New England Collegiate Conference matchup tonight following a 52-27 decision to Newbury College. The win improves the Nighthawks to 2-5 overall and evens their conference record to 1-1 while the Lynx slide to 0-6 on the season and 0-2 in NECC play.
First year forward Taylor Kelley (North Billerica, Mass.) drained a game-high 17 points, shooting seven of 13 from the field for to lead the hosts.
Senior guard Katelyn Roeser (Nashua, N.H.) set the tone of the game early connecting with both Kelley and fellow senior guard Jovanna Sandifer (Boston, Mass.) in the opening two minutes to take a 4-0 lead.
Lesley senior forward Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.) knocked down a pair of free throw to cut the deficit in half but that would be as close as the Lynx would get on the night. The Nighthawks answered with an 8-1 run to for their largest lead of the first period.
The Nighthawk offense remained red-hot in the second quarter. First year forward Savannah Olsen (Battle Creek, Mich.) came off the bench to score all six of her first half points in the second quarter.
Trailing by as many as in the opening minutes of the second, Lynx sophomore Lilly Donovan (Newburyport, Mass.) pulled the guests back to within single digits with a layup with just under six minutes to go. The Lynx defense was able to keep the Nighthawk offense in check for the next three minutes before Roeser connected with Kelley to break up their scoreless draught as they went into the break with a 5-0 run and the 25-12 lead.
When the teams emerged from the locker room at the start of the second period, the 13-point deficit was quickly minimized down to eight as Lesley opened up with a 5-0 run of their own built by consecutive layups by Ari Dimou (Manchester, N.H.) and Hannah Levensailor (Ayer, Mass.) and a Rathjens free throw. Newbury would respond with a 7-2 spurt before a Spears bucket gave the Nighthawks their largest lead of the quarter, 32-19, and the Nighthawks did not look back.
Spears posted her third double-double of the season netting 11 points while pulling down 16 rebounds – 11 in the second half. Sandifer rounded out the Nighthawks in double figures with 10 points while Roeser paced the offense dishing out six assists.
Rathjens tied her career-high and came one rebound shy of the program record with 19 rebounds for the second time this season while netting a team-high six points. Sophomore guard Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) followed up with five points while Donovan and sophomore guard Courtney Goggin (Cheshire, Conn.) added four apiece.
The Nighthawks will be back in action this Saturday December 5th when they travel to Leicester, Mass. to tip-off against Becker College at 1:00 p.m. The Lynx will also be in action Saturday afternoon when they host Southern Vermont College at 7:00 p.m. in Cambridge, Mass.
Release courtesy Newbury College Sports Information