Women’s Basketball Downs Lasell 56-47 in Season-Opener Friday

WALTHAM, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team punched its ticket to the championship game of the Brandeis Tip-Off Tournament with a 56-47 season-opening victory over Lasell Friday evening at Auerbach Arena.

The Lions improve to 1-0 on the year with the result while the Lasers fall to 0-1 overall.

Jessica Franco (Phoenix, Ariz.) paced Eastern Nazarene with 14 points off the bench while also adding six boards and three assists. Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) and BreAnna Fraser (Henderson, Nev.) each finished with 10 points on the night. Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) chipped in with eight points and Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Lasell opened up a 7-2 lead early in the first frame but the Lions battled back to claim an 8-7 edge after a pair of treys by Franco.

After the Lasers evened the score at 22-22, Krystal Holl (Smithsburg, Md.) knocked down a jumper to push Eastern Nazarene ahead 24-22 with 1:31 left to play.

The two teams headed into the halftime intermission deadlocked at 24-24 after a layup by Katie Stopera in the final minute.

The Lions poured in 20 points in the third quarter to establish a 44-38 advantage.

Eastern Nazarene built up a nine-point margin with 1:39 remaining in the third stanza on a lay-in by Salazar, 42-33.

Eastern Nazarene edged Lasell 12-9 in fourth-period scoring.

Fraser drilled a triple with 3:17 left to play in regulation to increase the Lions' lead to 18, 56-38.

Lasell closed out the game on a 9-0 run to narrow the gap to nine at the buzzer.

The Lions shot 37.5% from the floor in the game and drained half of their three-point attempts. The Lasers connected on 32.1% of their field-goal efforts on the night while being limited to 3-of-21 shooting from beyond the arc.

Stopera led Lasell with 17 points and six rebounds in the contest

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will battle Brandeis in the title game of the Brandeis Tip-Off Tournament November 14.