Women’s Basketball Wraps Up 2013 with 62-50 Loss at Lasell

NEWTON, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team dropped a 62-50 non-conference decision at Lasell Tuesday evening in the final tilt of the 2013 calendar year.

The Lions drop to 3-5 on the season with the loss while the Lasers improve to 4-5 overall with the result.

 Eastern Nazarene was led by Ruby Leon (Fairfield, Calif.) with 11 points. Michelle Herrera (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scored nine points and grabbed three boards in the contest. Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) netted a season-high seven points and hauled in six rebounds. Christina Saint-Pierre (Lantana, Fla.) posted a team-best seven boards on the night and added five points while Katy Teare (Frasier Park, Calif.) also chipped in with five points.

The two sides traded buckets in the opening five minutes of the contest with the hosts holding an 8-7 edge. The Lasers extended their lead to four points, 12-8, as Breanna Williams sank a pair of free throws with 13:20 left to play in the half.

Eastern Nazarene leveled the game at 14-14 with 9:12 remaining in the first frame as Katelyn Memory (Kiowa, Colo.) drained a trey. The Lions claimed a 17-15 advantage with 7:23 on the clock on Saint-Pierre's nailed her first three-pointer of the season.

Lasell responded with a trey by Danielle Autencio to restore its lead to 18-17 with 5:42 to go in the first half.

Eastern Nazarene retook the lead in the final minute of the first period. Leon buried a three-pointer to give the visitors a 26-24 edge with 49 seconds left to play.

The Lasers cut the Lions' lead to 26-25 just before halftime as Williams converted one of two free throw attempts. Eastern Nazarene headed into the halftime intermission clinging to a one-point advantage.

The Lions were led by Leon with seven first-half points while Saint-Pierre registered five points and a team-high seven boards. Grays also contributed with five points and four rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of play.

The visitors shot 26.5% from the field and 44.4% from beyond the arc in the first half. Lasell connected on 40.0% of its field-goal attempts in the opening period, including 1-of-2 from long distance.

The Lasers opened the second stanza with seven unanswered points to grab a 32-26 lead with 16:44 remaining.

The Lions narrowed the margin to two, 32-30, with 15:51 left to play on a jump shot by Tyshay Montgomery (Woodbine, Md.).

Lasell utilized a 10-2 run to stretch its lead to nine with 7:48 to go in regulation, 46-37.

Eastern Nazarene bounced back with an 8-2 clip to shrink the gap to 48-45 with 6:06 on the clock.

The Lasers followed with back-to-back buckets to widen their lead to seven with 4:50 left to play, 52-45.

Coming out of a timeout by the visitors, Herrera drained a three-pointer to pull the Lions to within four with 4:36 remaining, 52-48.

Lasell closed out the game on a 10-2 run, including scoring the final eight points of the contest, en route to its fourth win of the season.

Eastern Nazarene sank 28.6% of its field-goal attempts on the evening and 35.3% of its shots from behind the arc. The Lasers shot 40.0% from the floor in the game while being limited to just 2-of-7 shooting from three-point range.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene will kick off the 2014 calendar year with a non-league game against UMaine-Presque Isle at the Lahue Physical Education Center January 2.