CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Becker College guard Haley Ooms (Valatie, N.Y.) finished with ten points and a team-high 11 rebounds to record a double-double in a 48-40 win over the Lynx in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) action. With the win, the Hawks move to 6-14 on the year and 5-8 in the conference while Lesley falls to 3-16 and 2-11.
Junior Jacqueline Chila (Monroe, Conn.) led the Hawks going 6-of-10 from the floor and scored a game-high 14 points while classmate Chelsea Joubert (Westborough, Mass.) was also in double-figures, chipping in with 11.
Sophomore Anthea Rathjens (Sudbury, Mass.)had team-highs with 11 points and eight rebounds for Lesley while freshman Ari Dimou (Manchester, N.H.) had nine points on 4-of-7 shooting. Junior Emily Fleming (Medford, Mass.) came off the bench to finish with five points, five boards, and four steals.
In a game where it was a defensive battle throughout, the Lynx were able to grab an early 5-2 advantage over the first four minutes of play. After grabbing their first lead with 12:27 left in the half coming off of two Tarisha Renaud (Worcester, Mass.) free throws, the Hawks would never trail again. After the Renaud free throws, Becker went on an 14-4 run, led by eight consecutive points from Chila to open up a 22-11 lead.
The Lynx would battle back in the final two minutes before halftime ending on an 8-1 spurt, cutting the Eagle lead to just four. Dimou anchored the offense during the run as she scored six straight with just over a minute left.
After exchanging buckets, the Lynx cut the lead to 28-26 following a Carrie Fieger (Simsbury, Conn.) bucket, but Becker bounced right back with an 8-2 run, extending their cushion to six points with 8:37 remaining in the game.
With 3:47 left, a Fleming three and layup by Fieger got the Lynx to within three, but were unable to close as the Eagles went 6-of-8 from the free throw line down the stretch to cap a 48-40 win.
Becker was strong on the boards, out-rebounding the Lynx 60-48. Chila grabbed eight while Tatiana Mojica (Worcester, Mass.), Brooke Martel (Griswold, Conn.), and Melissa Rhodes (Mendon, Mass.) all finished with five.
Lesley was able to force 32 Becker turnovers, 16 of them coming off of steals. Junior Sarah Apgar (Andover, N.J.) had a game-high six swipes while Shannon Baker (Lynbrook, N.Y.) came up with three.
Both teams return to action on Tuesday, February 5th. The Lynx will head to Regis College for a 7:00p tip-off while Becker will host Mitchell College ,also at 7:00.
