The Mount Ida College women's basketball team dropped their second straight Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) loss, 81-73, against visiting Simmons College Saturday afternoon in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs fall to 8-12 overall, 1-6 in league play while the Sharks improve to 13-6, 5-2 in the GNAC.
The hosts came out of the shoot with guns blazing building a six point advantage in the opening of the first half capped off on a senior Cherie Parisi (South Attleboro, MA/Attleboro) jumper leading 9-3. Although the Sharks eventually cut the lead to a deuce (11-9) on a lay-in by freshman Liz O'Connor (Milton, MA/Milton), the Mustangs kept their opponent at arm's length and pulled ahead by nine on another Parisi jumper with 9:36 to go in the half.
Four minutes later, Mount Ida had built their biggest lead of the game up 11 points (36-28) after freshman Ashley White's (Salem, MA/Salem) third three pointer of the half with 4:32 remaining before the break.
Unfortunately for the Mustangs, the visitors took the lead with a little over a minute to go before the end of the half after the Sharks mounted a 10-0 run up 40-38 with a strong inside offensive game. The visitors ultimately headed into the locker room with a 43-40 advantage after trailing most of the first half.
The game got ugly for Mount Ida nine minutes into the second stanza while they watched their opponent build a game high 17 point advantage capped off on a jumper by Shark junior Liane Lantagne (Haverhill, MA/Haverhill) up 64-47.
The double digit lead was maintained until the Mustangs cut it back down to six points after two successful free throws by freshman Missy Collins (East Hartford, CT/East Hartford) trailing 67-61.
To their credit, Mount Ida never quit and kept pressuring their opponents for the remainder of the second half but could not cut the lead down enough for a comeback. The Sharks headed home with the 81-73 GNAC victory, good for their fifth conference win of the season.
Mount Ida was led by Parisi with a team high 19 points and eight rebounds while Collins added a solid 15 with five boards. White was outstanding for the Mustangs with a season high 14 points, nine assists, and seven caroms with teammate Katie Morvan (Northbridge, MA/Northbridge) adding 10 points and 10 boards good for a double-double.
The Sharks had five players in double figures with senior Juilianna Eagles (Quincy, MA/Fontbonne Academy) leading the way with 23 points and six boards. Senior center Stephanie Fox (West Springfield, MA/Suffield Academy) notched a double-double with 17 points and 13 boards.
The Mustangs will travel to Nashua, New Hampshire and face GNAC foe Rivier College on Wednesday starting at 7:00 p.m.