CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Becker College senior Brooke Martel (Griswold, Conn.) scored 20 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to lead the Hawks to a 64-59 comeback win over Lesley University today in New England Collegiate Conference action at the Nicholas Athletic Center. The win avenged a 48-40 loss to the Lynx on January 10th as the two teams split the regular season series.
Martel went a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line and added seven rebounds to her line on the day while junior Gabrielle Gallo (Northport, N.Y.) recorded a double-double of 18 points and a game-best 14 rebounds. Freshman Alycia Dery (Millville, Mass.) was the third Hawk in double-figures as she chipped in with 14 and came one rebound shy of a double-double with nine boards.
Lesley junior Ari Dimou (Manchester, N.H.) led the way for the Lynx with a team-best 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including going 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Sophomore Hannah Levensailor (Ayer, Mass.) and junior Jackie Ewing (Hong Kong) each finished with seven points for the hosts. Ewing added a game-high four helpers while freshman Kerry Flaherty (Woburn, Mass.) led the team with 10 rebounds.
The Lynx started out hot as back-to-back buckets from sophomore Emily Meade (Derry, N.H.) sparked a 10-2 run for the hosts to open up the game. Both teams struggled from the floor in the first, but the Hawks continued to work themselves back into the game as a pair of Martel layups cut the Lynx lead to two, 15-13, with 3:44 left in the first. Lesley bounced back with a 5-1 spurt before heading into halftime with a 22-18 lead.
The teams exchanged buckets over the opening five minutes of the first half before the Hawks used a 6-2 run capped by a Dery triple tied the game at 32-32. Less than two minutes later, Becker grabbed their first lead of the game following another Dery trey and a Martel jumper. The lead did not last long as Dimou knocked down consecutive three's to put the Lynx back ahead 42-37.
A pair of free throws by Lynx senior Grace Amato (Sharon, Vt.) gave the hosts a 50-44 edge with 7:32 remaining, but the Hawks would not back down. Martel powered Becker to a 17-7 run over the next seven minutes of play to put the guests in front 61-57 with just 1:36 to go. A Dimou runner cut the Lesley deficit to two points, but that would be as close as they would get as the Hawks knocked down 3-of-4 from the stripe down the stretch to close out their first win of the season.
Martel was nearly unstoppable during the run as the dumped in eight of her 20 points on the night, six of which came from the free throw line.
Both teams are back in action on Monday as Lesley (1-18, 1-11 NECC travels to Bay Path University at 8:00p while Becker (1-18, 1-11 NECC) with head to Mitchell College for a tilt with the Mariners at 5:30p.