Mount Ida College senior guard Nicole Casimiro (Lee, NH/Oyster River) netted a team high 17 points along with four caroms in a tough 59-43 loss to Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) rival, neighboring Lasell College, Saturday in Newton, Massachusetts. The Mustangs drop their first GNAC contest of the season and fall to 6-7 overall, 0-1 in conference play while the Lasers improve to 4-7 on the year, 1-0 in the GNAC.
The hosts held a small advantage throughout the first half up early with 15:28 on the clock after a lay-in by sophomore Katie Morvan (Northbridge, MA/Northbridge) leading 11-7. The Mustang advantage was quickly erased while the Lasers powered an 8-0 run up 15-11 at the 12:35 mark capped off on a Reegan Brackett (Scarborough, ME/Scarborough) jumper.
The visitors held on to their small four point advantage until the Mustangs stampeded an 8-0 run of their own capturing the 21-17 lead with 6:22 to go before the break. The Lasers regrouped and zapped Mount Ida down the stretch powering a 14-2 run to end the stanza leading 31-23 heading into the locker room.
The second half was all Lasell early on building a commanding 12 point advantage within the opening four minutes up 37-25 after a Brackett lay-in. Mount Ida got hot and slashed the Laser advantage to a deuce capped by a successful lay-up by Casimiro trailing 37-35 after a 10-0 run.
Mount Ida could not hold onto their momentum while the visitors inflated their lead back to double digits up 11 with 7:30 to go in the contest after a good jumper by Lasell junior Katie Farr (Rindge, NH/Conant).
The Mustangs cut the advantage to seven with 5:48 left in the game after a jumper by Casimiro down 46-39. Unfortunately for Mount Ida, they ran out of gas in the final ticks of the contest while the Lasers built their biggest lead of the day at 16 points and eventually captured the 59-43 victory for their first GNAC win of the season.
Besides Casimiro, no other Mustang had a big day in the points column with senior Ashley Boyd (Hanson, MA/Hanson-Whitman), Cherie Parisi (South Attleboro, MA/Attleboro), and Morvan all netting four points apiece. Sophomore Jenny Davis (Bristol, England/Filton College) chipped in six points with four boards.
The Lasers had two players in double figures with Farr tallying a game high 20 points with three boards. Freshman Kim Archibald (Lewiston, ME/Lewiston) notched the only double-double of the contest with 10 points and 13 caroms. Senior Tricia Culver (Northampton, MA/Northampton) and sophomore Kelsey Converse (Laconia, NH/Laconia) added seven points each.
The Mustangs are back in action next week against hosting non-conference Wheelock College Monday night starting at 7:00 p.m.