CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A balanced offensive attack that saw 12 different players score propelled Mitchell College past the Lesley University women's basketball team 68-26 in New England Collegiate Conference play tonight at the Nicholas Athletics Center.

Mitchell's Diamond Thomas (Hartford, Conn.) paced the Mariners as she filled the stat sheet with a game-high 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and two steals. Ashleigh Beauford (Newington, Conn.) followed with eight points while Samantha Ryan (Quaker Hill, Conn.), Francesca Pinard (Arlington, Mass.), Suzanne Vachon (East Hartford, Conn.), and Toshina Jessamy (Hartford, Conn.) all chipped in with six. Ryan added a team-best nine rebounds to her line on the night.

Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) led the charge for the Lynx with a team-high 13 points and fell one rebound shy of a double-double, pulling down nine boards. Courtney Goggin (Cheshire, Conn.) added five points, three rebounds, and two steals for the hosts while Ari Dimou (Manchester, N.H.) finished with four points and seven boards.

The Mariners led wire-to-wire as they opened the game on a 14-1 streak and never looked back. Trailing 16-3 in the first quarter, the Lynx chipped away and used a 5-3 spurt capped by a pair of Pereira free throws over the final 3:17 of the first quarter to trim the deficit to 19-8.

Mitchell would keep their foot on the gas, however, and scored the first 13 points of the second quarter to build a 32-8 advantage. Six different players would score for the guests during the run before a Goggin trey and Pereira layup would put an end to Lesley's scoring drought, but the Mariners would get buckets from Vachon and Kate McCormack (Narragansett, R.I.) and head into the locker room with a 36-13 first half lead.

The onslaught would continue in the third as the Mariners used another early 10-2 run to further separate themselves and build a 46-15 lead. Mitchell would lead by as many as 44 in the second half as to the 68-26 win.

The Mariners shot 39% (31-of-79) from the floor while holding the Lynx to just a 15% (9-of-59) shooting on the night. Mitchell dominated down low and held a 66-40 edge on the glass and a 42-8 advantage in points in the paint.

Lesley will return to the Nicholas Athletics Center on Tuesday when they welcome Regis College for another NECC matchup at 8:00p while Mitchell will be back in conference action on Monday as they play host to Bay Path University at 3:00p.