CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Southern Vermont College was topped 45-36 by Lesley University Sunday afternoon in New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) women's basketball action at Buckingham, Browne & Nichols.
The Lynx were up 24-16 at halftime and went on to maintain their separation through the final 20 minutes for the league win.
SVC (1-16, 1-11 NECC) is next in action on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. Conference start at Becker College.
Mountaineer sophomore Amber Lesure (Cheshire, Mass.) led all players with a career-high 16 points, and she also had four rebounds and three steals in the effort. Freshman Kelly Dobbert (Stamford, Vt.) tallied five points, four boards and a pair of assists while senior captain Amber Dow (Panton, Vt.) notched another five points and grabbed two rebounds. Freshman Danielle Biggers (Bronx, N.Y.) chipped in with a team-best six boards, two steals and a pair of blocks.
Both teams shot at an even 25 percent from the floor with SVC going 14-for-56 while the Lynx connected on 15 of their 60 field goal attempts. LU snagged a 56-32 upper hand in rebounds as Southern Vermont outscored the hosts 20-11 in points off turnovers.
Lesley jumped out to a 7-0 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. The Lynx utilized a pair of three-pointers late in the first quarter to go in front by 12 before Lesure dropped in a layup in the final minute to make it a 16-6 ballgame.
LU got the first two scores of the next period, but Southern Vermont responded to get back in it. Lesure sank a triple to spark an 8-0 Mountaineer run which she capped with a layup at the 5:33 mark. Scoring went back-and-forth before a scoreless 2:23 ended the half with The Lynx on top 24-16.
Baskets were traded once play resumed as SVC prevented LU from pulling away. Dow answered a pair of successful host free throws with a layup, but Lesley then notched five unanswered to push the difference into double digits. Dobbert registered a layup with 1:30 left on the clock to make it a 36-26 game going into the fourth.
Southern Vermont inched closer by way of the long ball in the final 10 minutes as Lesure hit one from downtown before a Dow trey cut it to a 40-34 lead for the Lynx. That would be the closest SVC could get, however, as the Mountaineer offense went quiet through the latter end of the quarter while Lesley gained some breathing room for the victory.
– #LetsGoSVC –