THE BASICS 
Lesley University, 46 at Thomas College, 58

Records: 
Lesley University Lynx (6-10, 2-5 NAC)
Thomas College Terriers (5-11, 5-3 NAC) 

Location: Waterville, Maine-Larry Mahaney Gymnasium

Date: Saturday, January 18, 2025

THE LEAD – The Lesley University women's basketball team continued its January road trip with a Saturday contest at North Atlantic Conference (NAC) member Thomas College and came up short by a score of 58-46 on Saturday afternoon. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Lesley's offense started quickly as the squad jumped out to an early 7-1 lead after Ahidali DeHuelbes (Tucson, Ariz.) knocked down a jumper with 5:57 left in the opening quarter. However, Thomas' offense got hot and ended the first on a 14-0 run and took an eight-point lead (15-8) into the second. Holly Loring spearheaded the Terriers rally, scoring six of Thomas' 15 points. 
• As the second quarter got underway, the Lynx slowly chipped away at the Terrier's lead and made it a four-point game (15-11) when Savannah Gravitt (Richmond Hill, Ga.) hit a jumper with 6:50 left until halftime. Thomas would not let Lesley get any closer as the hosts increased their advantage to 12 (23-11) thanks to an 8-0 spurt, which led to a Lesley timeout. 
• Coming out of the break, the Lynx trimmed the deficit down to six (23-17) after a Gravitt three-pointer, but that would be the closest the visitors would get for the remainder of the half. Thomas kept Lesley at bay the rest of the second and took a 32-21 lead at halftime.
• In the third, after Leila Chisholm (Santa Barbara, Calif.) got things started for Lesley to make it 32-23, Thomas' offense continued where it left off by going on another 8-0 run for a 17-point lead (40-23), leading to another Lynx timeout. Mollie Gray and Mariah Roberts both paced the Thomas offense with four points apiece during the latest Thomas run.
• After the timeout, Thomas would grab its first 20-point lead (43-23) off a Gray three-pointer. However, Lesley's offense closed out the third on a 10-3 run and pulled within 13 (46-33) going into the fourth. Chisholm led the Lynx's late offensive surge with eight points. 
• Going into the fourth, Thomas kept its lead in the double-digits as the Terriers went up 15 (51-36) after an Elena Alderman layup with 6:55 remaining before the Lynx called a timeout to try and halt Thomas' momentum. After the timeout, Lesley would pull within 12 (53-41) thanks to a DeHuelbes three, but the Lynx would not get any closer as the Terriers held off the squad for the last 4:36 and secured a 58-46 NAC win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Chisholm led all scorers with a new season-high 19 points on 8-14 shooting. She was also all over the floor defensively as she swiped a game-high six steals. 
• Lesley's other double-figure scorer was DeHeulbes, who chipped in 11 points. 
• Gray led all Thomas scorers with 16 points on 7-14 shooting, which included going 2-4 from deep. 
• Gray and Sky Kubwalo led the Terriers on the glass with seven boards apiece. 
• Both Lesley and Thomas finished tied in rebounds with 30. 
• The Lynx held the advantage from the three-point line, shooting 35.7 percent (5-14), whereas the Terriers shot 19.0 percent (4-21).

UP NEXT

• Lesley has a quick turnaround as the squad is back in action again tomorrow afternoon when the squad heads to UMaine Farmington for a 1:00 p.m. NAC matchup.