Women’s Hoops Cruises Past Lesley 91-50; Sacha Santimano Earns 100th Career Win

QUINCY, Mass.- Seventh-year head coach Sacha Santimano eclipsed the 100-career victory mark as the Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team breezed by Lesley 91-50 Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions improve to 11-3 on the season and 6-1 in the New England Collegiate Conference with the win. The Lynx fall to 0-13 overall and 0-7 in league contests with the setback.

Stella Dulay (Santa Maria, Calif.) scored a game-high 14 points off the bench. Sydni Oviatt (Fruit Heights, Utah) notched a career-best 12 points. Jenn Burnham (West Valley City, Utah) recorded 11 points, seven boards, and five steals. Kyra Fleharty (Lewistown, Mont.) finished with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.

The home side raced out to a commanding 19-3 advantage with 3:12 left to play in the first quarter after a steal-and-score by Shaylee Todani (Wahiawa, Hawaii) capped a 12-0 run.

Eastern Nazarene sported a 25-9 lead heading into the second frame.

The visitors cut the deficit to 30-24 on a layup by Karyn McEvoy with 4:28 remaining in the second period.

Dulay splashed back-to-back treys to push the Lions' lead back into double digits, 37-25, with two minutes to go in the first half.

Eastern Nazarene carried a 43-28 advantage into the halftime break after shooting 41.7% from the floor and connecting on 7-of-17 from beyond the arc in the opening two quarters. Lesley posted a field-goal percentage of 47.6% at the midway point to go with 3-for-8 shooting from three-point range.

Dulay paced the Lions with nine points off the bench at intermission while Shannon Chau (San Francisco, Calif.) and Tia Torio (Manteca, Calif.) each tallied six points.

The hosts started the third quarter with 16 consecutive points to widen the gap to 59-28 with 3:41 left to play in the frame.

Eastern Nazarene poured in 25 points in the third period and limited Lesley to just six points to extend its advantage to 68-34 heading into the final 10 minutes of regulation.

The Lions' largest lead of the afternoon came with 3:46 on the clock as Todani tossed in a fast-break layup, 86-40.

The home side outscored the guests 23-16 in the fourth quarter to finish the contest with a season-high 91 points and collect its 11th win of the year.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 48.5% while draining 9-of-23 three-point attempts on the day. The Lynx shot 43.2% from the floor in the game and 41.2% from long distance.

McEvoy led Lesley with 13 points and six assists while Theresa Pereira chipped in with 11points and Dakota Jones added 10 rebounds and seven points.

"I am very thankful for the opportunity to do what I love. However, these wins would have never happened without the players, coaches, and staff that have come through and continue to support our program", reflected Santimano, the winningest-coach in program history.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene travels to the Nutmeg State to face league-leading Mitchell January 15.