Story courtesy of Rob Palardy, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Information

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Lesley University women’s basketball team defeated Elms College 55-47 thanks to a quality second half performance that helped the Lynx pull away to victory. Lesley improved to 7-8 (6-2 NECC) and took sole possession of second place in the New England Collegiate Conference.

Elms dropped to 6-11 (5-3 NECC) following the loss.

Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, combining to shoot 25.0% from the floor. Defense had a factor in the low 23-23 score at halftime as the Lynx were able to block four shots and the Blazers blocked three of their own.

The Lynx stormed out to a 11-0 lead in the first half but Elms chipped away at the lead and eventually tied the game at 19-19 following a Jen Normandie (WESTFORD, Mass./Westford Academy) jumped. Normandie finished with six points in the period. Normandie’s teammate Annie Dunnack (MANSFIELD CENTER, Conn./E.O. Smith) also scored six points in the first half to help jump start the Elms offense.

Lesley’s Brianne Caira (PELHAM, N.H./Pelham) scored eight of her game-high 16 points in the first half on 3-of-6 from the floor and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.

In the second half, Caira went back to work scoring eight more points but was mostly effective on the glass grabbing 11 of her 14 rebounds in the second stanza. Complementing Caira’s effort in the second half were Hailee Lowe (HAMILTON, Mass./Hamilton-Wenham Regional) and Kaitlyn Wechsler (MERRICK, N.Y./Our Lady of Mercy Academy) who each had nine points. Lowe and Wechsler finished with 15 and 13 points, respectively.

For the game, Elms’ leading scorer was Katie Condon (SANDY HOOK, Conn./Newtown) who came off the bench to score 11 points in 28 minutes on the court. She also grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists.

Lesley will host Mitchell College on Tuesday, February 2 at 8:00 pm while Elms hosts Becker College on Saturday, January 30 starting at 2:00 pm.