BROOKLINE, MA – In a battle that matched the nation's leading rebounder and the nation's leading shot blocker, Lesley's Brianne Caira fell short of throwing another block party, but her Lynx topped Catherine O'Connell's Newbury Nighthawks, 61-49, Thursday night in New England Collegiate Conference Women's basketball action.
At 5-0, Lesley (5-7 overall) remains tied for first place in the NECC, while Newbury falls to 4-3 in league play (6-9 overall).
The 6-foot-1 Caira (Pelham, NH/Pelham), who entered averaging a national-best 4.6 blocks per game, posted a double-double of 10 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks, four assists and three steals. Teammate Kaitlyn Wechsler (Merrick, NY/Our Lady Mercy) scored 10 of her team-high 18 in the Lynx second-half comeback, which was ignited by Rachael O'Mara (Levittown, NY/General Douglas McArthur), who scored 13 of her 17 after half.
O'Connell (Quincy, MA/North Quincy), who entered averaging a nation-leading 16.5 rebounds, tied Caira for game-high honors with 13 boards, but was hampered by foul trouble and held to two points on 1-10 shooting over 24 minutes. Ashley Monteiro (Cambridge, MA/Rindge & Latin) was red-hot as the Nighthawks jumped out to a four-point halftime lead, scoring 19 of her game-high 24 points off the bench in the first.
Montiero's two treys in the first two minutes put Newbury up 6-2, and the teams exchanged leads and forced ties for most of the period. Just inside the 6:00 mark, Nighthawks junior Shayla White (Dorchester, MA/Wellesley High) ripped Lesley guard Jennie Vallesio, taking the steal coast-to-coast to give the visitors their largest lead, 21-16.
Lesley battled back when, after a pair of Wechsler free throws, guard Emily Fleming (Somerville, MA/Somerville) forced a Monteiro turnover that led to a Wechsler bucket, giving the Lynx their first lead since the opening seconds, 28-27 at the 1:00 mark. Monteiro, who owned the first half, responded immediately with a three-pointer and a pair of free throws that sent the Nighthawks into intermission back ahead by four, 32-28.
As quickly as Monteiro caught fire off the opening tip, O'Mara turned the heat up out of intermission, as the senior forward hit consecutive three-pointers on Lesley's first two possessions of the second. Lesley never trailed thereafter.
White tied the contest at 34-34 at the 18:00 mark, but Wechsler scored four straight to extend the lead to 38-34. Monteiro's fifth trifecta of the game cut it to a 47-46 contest with 8:24 remaining, but Lesley then embarked on a 14-0 run featuring four points each from O'Mara and Wechsler, distancing the Lynx, who remained undefeated in NECC play.
O'Connell and Newbury bettered Lesley 53-48 on the boards, but Lesley held the Nighthawks to under 24 percent shooting. Newbury turned the ball over 25 times to a manageable 14 for the Lynx, who handed out 16 assists led by senior forward Cassidy Freed's five assists and one turnover.
Freed (Brattleboro, VT/Brattleboro Union) added a pair of blocks and a game-high four steals for the Lesley, which visits Becker on Saturday at 1 p.m. Newbury travels to Bay Path on Saturday, also at 1:00.
