NEWTON, MA – The New England College women's basketball team competed at Lasell University on Saturday at the Lasell Athletic Center in Newton, Massachusetts in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.
THE BASICS
Score:                    New England College 57, 69 Lasell University
Records:               Pilgrims 7-8, 2-3 GNAC | Lasers 7-6, 2-2 GNAC

HOW IT HAPPENDED

• In the early going things were close with neither side giving in with four lead changes in the first quarter of play ultimate ending, 15-12 in favor of Lasell. NEC found a lot of their success in the paint as they outscored LU, 8-6 in that category.
• Lasell began to find their momentum in the early going of the second quarter as they stretched the lead out to 13 credited by the 12-0 run, they produced. The Lasers buckled down on the defensive side of the ball that only allowed for the Pilgrims to score seven points. The end of the quarter resulted in a 14-point deficit that NEC has to respond back to in the second half as LU continues to lead going into halftime, 33-19.
• The third quarter of action was a big turning point for the Pilgrims as they outscored the Lasers by a considerably large margin, 27-12. In the midst of the quarter NEC put together a 10-0 run that brought the Lasers deficit to just seven points, 41-35. At 3:54 NEC came away with another run of seven points that evened things up, 42-42. NEC sophomore guard Macy Gordon (Boscawen, N.H.) was the Pilgrims leading scorer in the quarter accounting for six points, NEC junior guard Amya Moss (Norfolk, Va.) and senior center Kathleen Rodriguez (McFarland, Calif.) both recorded five points respectively. In the last 31 seconds of the quarter, junior guard Zaniya Moody (Hampton, Va.) layup put the team out in front by one point, 46-45.
• The first 4:46 of play of the fourth quarter was back and fourth between the two teams but things began to slip away for Pilgrims as the Lasers got out on a 7-0 that put them back into lead with 3:06 remaining, 61-52. From there on NEC could not keep up with the scoring output performed by LU as the Pilgrims could only manage to score five points to the Lasers eight that resulted in the home victory for Lasell, 69-57.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• NEC Rodriguez shined bright for the team as the senior finished with a double double of  13 points and 13 rebounds.
• NEC senior guard Juliana Hernandez (McFarland, Calif.) contributed with a solid outing of nine points, nine rebounds and an assist.
• NEC Gordon had eight points and an assist to wrap up her day.
• LU had three players in double digits in sophomore guard Kiara Cerruti (Canton, MA) gathering 16 points, five rebounds and an assist, sophomore guard Shirle Major (Worcester, MA) had 14 points, one rebound and an assist, sophomore guard finished with a double double of 13 points, 10 rebounds, and six steals.
• NEC was better at the charity stripe shooting 52.9 percent as LU went for 43.3 percent.
• NEC took advantage of points in the paints as they outscored LU, 26-20.
• The bench of NEC made big contributions in the matchup putting together 26 points to the Lasers 20.

UP NEXT

• Up next for NEC, the team will be hosting Colby Sawyer on Tuesday at 5:00 PM from Bridges Gym.
• As for Lasell they will be on the road to compete against Dean College at 5:00 PM onTuesday.

For continuing coverage of New England College Athletics, visit athletics.nec.edu and follow the Pilgrims on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.