Junior Lianna Carrero (Hamden, Conn.) scored 30 points to lift the Albertus Magnus women's basketball team to a 71-58 victory over Lasell College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play on Wednesday night.
The victory marked the Falcons' third-straight, while they improved to 14-3 overall and 4-2 in GNAC play. Lasell falls to 8-9 on the year with the loss and 3-3 in league action.
Carrero's 30-point effort marked the third time in the last five contests that she registered 30 or more points for the Falcons. She finished the night shooting 10-of-24 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Both Kendrea Walker (New Haven, Conn.) and Annie Sutila (Bridgeport, Conn.) registered double-figures in scoring as they knocked down 14 and 15 points, respectively. Sutila hit four 3-pointers for the Falcons in the contest, while Walker added eight rebounds to her tally.
Chelsea Sherrod (Bridgeport, Conn.) also came off the bench to pull down 11 boards in 13 minutes of work.
Lasell hit the first shot of the contest, a three-pointer by Molly Lauver, before the Falcons went on a 19-3 run to open the game. During that run in the first seven minutes of the contest, Sutila tallied all eight of her first-half points.
A free-throw by Lasell's Ginelle Cola at the 9:16 mark of the frame put the Lasers' first points on the scoreboard since 17 seconds into the contest. Cola added Lasell's first field goal in 11 minutes with a layup to cut the Falcons' lead to 19-6.
Walker came off the bench to score her 14 points for her fourth-straight game in double-figures. Walker scored the Falcons' final eight points in the first half as Albertus went into the break with a 32-19 lead.
Lasell battled back in the second half by shooting 41.2% from the field, including a 3-of-9 clip from behind the arc. The Lasers cut the Falcon lead to as little as five points in the second half when Cola hit a jumper to make the score 44-39 with 10:51 left in the game but that was as close as the Lasers would get as the Falcons extended their lead to 13 with a 71-58 victory.
The Falcons' largest lead of the contest came in the first half when they took a 16-point lead at the 13:04 mark of the frame.
As a team, the Falcons shot 37.3% from the field after shooting just 33.3% in the second half. Nicole Acerra (East Haven, Conn.) added four rebounds, six assists and two steals, while Annie Raucci (Milford, Conn.) tallied five rebounds and six points for the Falcons.
Lasell was led by Molly Lauver with 22 points, while Cola came off the bench to score 17 points and grab eight rebounds. Alexis Chappell added eight points and 11 rebounds for the Lasers.
Albertus is 5-2 all-time against Lasell, including a 2-1 showing in New Haven, Conn.
The Falcons will host Norwich University on Saturday, Jan. 26 in a 1:00 p.m. GNAC match-up.