Women's Basketball Dominates Lesley In NECC Road Finale

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Amanda Hawkesworth (Abington, Mass.) was a dominant force in the paint, shooting 10-of-16 from the floor for 25 points to lead the Regis (Mass.) women's basketball team to an 83-47 win over Lesley University in New England Collegiate Conference on Tuesday.

Regis remains perfect in NECC action improving to 17-0 and 18-6 overall while Lesley drops to 7-17 and 5-12 in conference play.

The Pride set the tone early, dominating the offensive glass with four offensive rebounds leading to eight second chance points as they opened the game with a commanding 14-4 run. Hawkesworth led the charge tallying 10 points while ripping down seven boards – six offensive – as the Pride took a commanding, 23-8 lead into the second quarter.

Senior forward Susan Smith (Medford, Mass.) put the Lynx on the scoreboard first, to begin the second, with a lay-up in the paint from first year forward Dakota Jones (Torrance, Calif.) but it did little to quell the high-powered Pride offense. Hawkesworth ignited a three-minute 8-0 run, knocking down one-of-two from the charity stripe as the Pride built a 32-10 lead halfway through the period.

Keeping their foot on the gas pedal, Hawkesworth added six points to her first half 10 while teammates, sophomore forward Sam D'Angelo (Woburn, Mass.) and junior forward Brittany Stone (West Bridgewater, Mass.) also got into the action. All three forwards each posted six points in the period with D'Angelo and Stone being nearly flawless from the field, a combined six-of-seven from the floor, as the Pride took 45-17 lead into the locker room.

When the teams returned to the court at the start of the second half, Lesley showed fight and continued to battle. Junior guard Theresa Pereira (Hopedale, Mass.) knocked down back-to-back long range three-point jumpers to ignite the Lynx offense. Midway through the period, the Lynx went on a mini 5-0 run getting offensive output from first year guard Linda Wallentine (Monroe Township, N.J.). The New Jersey native knocked down a trey then went to the line to for two free throws all within the span of 40 seconds.

It was not enough as the Pride offense was stifling. Hawkesworth remained a force on the floor tallying nine points as Regis outscored Lesley, 25-17, in the third quarter to take a commanding, 70-34, lead into the final period.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Lynx as they continued to show fight. Jones led the way with five points while Wallentine followed up with four points to battle to a 13-13 tie but it was not enough to power past the Pride, who went on to pick up their 18th victory of the season with the 83-47 final.

Shooting six-of-10 from the floor, D'Angelo came one rebound shy of a double-double, tallying 12 points and nine rebounds while Stone round out the Pride trio in double figures also netting 12 points.

Wallentine was the Lynx leading the scorer netting a team-high 18 points on the night while Jones followed up, shooting 50% from the floor, recording seven points of her own.

The Pride will close out the regular season hosting Southern Vermont College Saturday afternoon, February 18th at 1:00 p.m. The Lynx will be back in action Thursday evening when they travel to Bay Path College to tip-off against the Wildcats at 8:00 p.m. 

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