CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A monster second half from Lesley University freshman Dakota Jones (Torrance, Calif.) powered the Lynx to a 63-52 comeback victory over visiting Green Mountain College in the 2017 opener for both schools on Thursday night.

Jones poured in 14 points and pulled down 17 rebounds in the final two quarters as the Lynx outscored the Eagles 39-27 in the final 20 minutes of action to improve to 3-7 on the season. The freshman forward finished with 19 points and 19 rebounds overall to notch her sixth double-double of the season. Green Mountain drops to 0-8 overall with the loss.

Trailing by one at the end of the first half, the Lynx came storming out of the gate and kicked off the third quarter on a 10-2 run capped by a Jones layup to open up a 34-27 advantage. The Eagles continued to fight and used a pair of triples by sophomore Suzanna Moses (Strafford, Vt.) with under two minutes to go in the quarter to pull back within three, 41-28.

Green Mountain continued to use the three-ball in the fourth as fellow sophomore Mercedes Rideout (Nashville, Tenn.) hit back-to-back three's to even the score at 45-45 just 1:21 into fourth quarter play. From there it was all Lesley as a layup from senior Hannah Levensailor (Ayer, Mass.) ignited a 12-0 spurt to give the hosts some separation before notching their first victory of the calendar year, 63-52.

Lynx junior Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) fell one rebound short of a double-double of her own as she finished with 14 points and nine boards while freshman Linda Wallentine (Monroe Township, N.J.) filled the stat sheet with 11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and six steals. Senior Emily Meade (Derry, N.H.) was excellent off the bench for the hosts with six points and five caroms in eight minutes of action. Freshman Nana Tsuchiya (Osaka, Japan) recorded a career-high five points in reserve duty.

Rideout paced the Eagles attack with a team-best 14 points to go along with four rebounds and three helpers. Moses added 12 points while freshman Taylor Hill (Ronceverte, W.V.) added 11 points while pulling down a team-high eight boards.

Lesley will return to New England Collegiate Conference action this Saturday when they battle Becker College in Leicester, Mass. at 1:00p. Green Mountain will also return to play on Saturday and hit the road to Castleton for a 3:00p tip-off.