Women’s Hoops Drops GNAC Opener

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Regis College women's basketball team used an 18-point third quarter to take the lead into the fourth quarter but were unable to hang on against Albertus Magnus, falling to the Falcons 72-65 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest.

Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) put 17 points on the scoreboard for the Pride while grabbing seven boards and dishing out four assists. Katryna Veasey (Quincy, Mass.) added 14 points and seven rebounds while recording a block, and Taylor Iorfino (Monroe, Conn.) and Arie Searcy (Santa Rosa, Calif.) also broke double digit scoring in the contest with 12 points and 10 points, respectively.

The Pride struck on their first possession after Mackenzie Emery (Standish, Maine) found Nikki Bitinaitis (Cromwell, Conn.) for the lay-in. Emery found Searcy in the next Pride possession for a jumper to put Regis up 4-0. Trailing 5-3 with 6:30 remaining in the first quarter, Albertus went on a 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead.

Iorfino ended the Falcon run with a layup with 1:46 remaining in the first quarter. Shannon Kelley (Quincy, Mass.) followed 33 seconds later with a three-pointer before Gonzalez evened up the game at 12-12 with 15 seconds remaining in the quarter. Cassie Couture hit a three-point shot with three seconds on the clock to give the Falcons a 15-12 edge at the end of the first quarter.

Veasey made a layup to shrink the lead to one with 6:29 remaining in the first half, and Bitinaitis put the Pride up by one after converting a pass from Gonzalez found Bitinaitis into another layup on the following Regis possession. After Gonzalez brought the Pride within two points, Albertus scored the final five points to hold a 36-29 lead at the half.

Veasey put up the first points of the third quarter with a three-point jumper just 38 seconds into the half to bring the Pride deficit to four. After a pair of free throws from Rah-Rah Thompson, Regis went on an 11-2 run to take a 43-41 lead. Regis held a 47-45 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Gonzalez made a three-pointer with 4:32 remaining in the contest, putting Regis up by two. Shyla Osmond followed shortly after with a layup that tied the game at 61-61. Andreah Orr then hit a jump shot with 3:39 on the clock to give the Falcons the lead for good.

Thompson scored a game-high 20 points and also collected three blocks for the Falcons while Osmond added 18 points and 8 assists.

Albertus Magnus (10-4, 1-0 GNAC) will travel to face Suffolk on Thursday, Jan. 16 and will then host Colby-Sawyer on Saturday, Jan. 18.

Regis (6-8, 0-1 GNAC) will be back in action Wednesday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. in Providence, R.I., against Johnson & Wales. The Pride then take on Rivier Saturday, Jan. 18 before playing their final regular season non-conference contest at Rhode Island College on Wednesday, Jan. 22.