WBB: Lasell goes down to defeat at Suffolk

BOSTON – Three Suffolk University players notched double figures in scoring, led by a career-night from freshman Allie Lopes, to pace the Rams to a 79-64 triumph against Lasell College Tuesday night in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's basketball action inside Regan Gymnasium.

Lopes finished the night with a team-high 20 points off the bench for Suffolk (15-5, 7-1 GNAC), converting 8-for-12 from the floor and 3-for-6 from behind-the-arc. Alexis Hackett contributed a 12-rebound, 10-point double-double and Marissa Gudauskas completed the trio of double-digit scorers with 15 points.

Junior Amanda Ortiz (Newton, Mass.) led the Lasers (5-13, 0-6 GNAC) with 24 points and eight rebounds, her seventh 20-point effort this season. Senior Jaime Caron (Derry, N.H.) scored nine points, her second-highest output this year, and sophomore Dev Markland (Derby, Conn.) contributed six points while matching Ortiz with a team-high eight rebounds.

Lasell jumped out to an early 8-2 lead, including a pair of baskets by graduate student Imani Bumpus (Dedham, Mass.), but Suffolk battled back to take an 11-10 lead on a three-pointer by Jordan Hipwell. The foes traded hoops before Suffolk ended the first frame with a bucket to keep the home team ahead, 13-11.

The Lasers leveled the playing field at 13-all when Markland sunk a pair of freebies on Lasell's first possession of the second stanza. The conference clash turned into a shooting clinic with the teams going bucket-for-bucket behind-the-arc. The back-and-forth treys ended when Lopes swished her second straight hoop from three-point land to regain the edge for Suffolk, 22-19, at the 5:32 minute mark.

See-saw action ensued, but Suffolk never relinquished the lead. Over the final two minutes, the Rams outscored the Lasers, 9-2, capped off by a buzzer beater half-court shot from Gabriella DeComo, to build an 11-point, 36-25 cushion at the half.

It was back-and-forth action out of the break before a traditional three-point play from Natalie Fraioli jump started a 12-1 Rams' run that broke open a 20-point, 55-35, advantage for the hosts with just over one-minute remaining in the third quarter.

Lasell gained momentum from a pair of Ortiz buckets that ended the third stanza and the Lasers opened the final frame with an 8-2 spurt to cut the margin to 10 with 8:17 left on the clock. Lopes took matters into her own hands, putting together an 8-2 run of her own that placed the Rams ahead by 16, 67-51, at the midway point of the fourth quarter.

From there Suffolk went up by as many as 19 once again. The deficit did not distract Lasell from coming back as it the trimmed the margin back to 14 with just under two minutes to go. The Rams did not let them get any closer the rest of the way as they closed things out with a 4-2 stretch to lock up the 79-64 decision.

Suffolk makes the short trip to Pine Manor Thursday, Jan. 31 where the Rams will wrap up their non-conference slate. Lasell is back on the court on Saturday, February 2, with a visit to Emmanuel College for a GNAC matchup.

-- 30 --