NEC Women’s Basketball Slips Past Lasell College in Overtime

HENNIKER, N.H. – New England College women’s basketball forward Shauntaye Pumphret hit a foul shot with just one second remaining in overtime lifting the Pilgrims past the visiting Lasell College Lasers 68-67 Tuesday evening.

With the win the Pilgrims improve to 11-2 overall, while the loss drops the Lasers to 5-6 on the season.

The two teams would battle evenly through much of the opening half as the half would see five ties and two lead changes.  The Pilgrims would grab a seven point lead with three minutes remaining in the first and hit two foul shots late to head into intermission with the 31-24 lead.

NEC would lead by as many as 15 points in the second half before Lasell would use a an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 46-42 with eight minutes remaining in regulation.  The Lasers would grab their first lead of the game in the final two minutes and go up three with 30 seconds remaining on the clock.  NEC’s Kayla Lawlor ( Cocoa Beach, Fla.) would come up huge as she would hit a three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining knotting the game at 57-57 and forcing overtime.

The two teams would continue to battle back-and-forth through the five minute overtime as a jumper by Lasell’s Danielle Autencio (Montville, Conn.) would tie the game at 67-67 with under a minute on the clock.  NEC would regain procession of the ball late as Pumphret would draw a foul with 1.3 on the clock and sink one of two from the line to give the Pilgrims the 68-67 victory.

Leading the way for NEC was Kayla Lawlor who finished with a game-high 25 points. NEC’s Katrina Muska recorded a double-double finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Taylor Burgess (Randallstown, Md.) finished with 15 point and eight rebounds.

Leading the way for Lasell College was Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.) who finished with a team-high 22 points and nine rebounds.  Lasell’s Danielle Autencio (Montville, Conn.) finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists, while Deanna Barrett (Berlin, Conn.) chipped in 11 points for the Lasers.

NEC returns to action Thursday, Jan 10 when they travel to take on undefeated NAC foe Castleton State College.  Lasell will open Great Northeast Atlantic Conference (GNAC) play on Saturday, Jan. 12 when they host Johnson & Wales University.

Scoring by half               1             2           OT        Total
Lasell College                   24           33          10           67
New England College       31           26          11           68

Published: January 8, 2013