CAMBRIDGE, MA – Four first half three-pointers in under four minutes separated Daniel Webster from Lesley Thursday night in the Eagles 67-41 win in New England Collegiate Conference women's basketball play at the Nicholas Athletics Center.
Eagles point guard Sarah Paternostro (Glastonbury, CT/Glastonbury) led all players with career-highs of 27 points and 12 field goals (12-18), fueling a critical first half 15-0 Eagles run. Fellow senior Alycia Gervais (Windham, ME/Windham) posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds as Daniel Webster improved to 15-7 and 11-4 in NECC play.
Emily Fleming led the Lynx with 21 points and a game-high eight steals. Playing for the first time in eight games, center Grace Amato (Sharon, VT/Woodstock Union) came off the bench for nine points and eight rebounds in 13 minutes.
Three-pointers from Fleming and Lynx freshman Carrie Fieger (Simsbury, CT/Suffield Academy) cut the Eagles lead to 10-6 before Daniel Webster fired its way through the game's most pivotal run. Reserve guard Allyssa Marson (Augusta, ME/Coney) cashed in on two deep three-pointers within 28 seconds of each other to up the lead to 17-6. Paternostro then knocked down back-to-back threes with a Kirsten Murphy (Woodstock, VT/Woodstock Union) jumper in between, and in a span of 4:54, Daniel Webster had upped its lead to 25-6 with 15 unanswered points.
Trailing by 21 with under 5:00 to play in the first, four Fleming points and an Amato three-point play to close out the half brought some hope to the Lynx, which went into halftime trailing 35-21. Daniel Webster held a 14-0 first half advantage in points off turnovers thanks to 10 Lesley giveaways and outrebounded the Lynx 23-17.
Fleming's Lynx hung tough to open the second, but Paternostro ultimately proved to be too much to handle. A Fleming three-point play just inside the 13:00 mark cut the Lesley deficit back to 14 at 45-31, but Paternostro answered with her third three-pointer of the night on the ensuing possession. Another Fleming traditional three-point play cut the margin back to 14 at 48-34 with 10:40 remaining, but Paternostro made three of four shots over the next 3:10 to lift the Eagles lead back to 18.
A late 12-0 Daniel Webster run that extended inside the final minutes ballooned the lead to 29, and the Eagles won 67-41. For the game, Daniel Webster shot 5-13 (.385) from three-point range and 44 percent overall.
Lesley knocked down 3-6 three-pointer field goals but shot only 25 percent on the night.
The Lynx (0-21, 0-14 NECC) return to play at Bay Path on Saturday, when the Eagles travel to Wheelock.