For Immediate Release
November 19, 2009
Wellesley Sports Information
Wellesley Basketball Falls in Home Opener to Roger Williams
WELLESLEY, Mass. - Roger Williams rookie Alexandria Lanieri (Port Jefferson, NY) posted a double-double to lead the visiting Hawks to a 39-33 win over Wellesley College in women's basketball action on Thursday evening at the Keohane Sports Center.
Lanieri turned in an impressive performance in her first collegiate game, totaling 11 points to go along with 16 rebounds. The win was the first of the season for the Hawks, who improve to 1-1, while Wellesley falls to 0-2 on the year.
With the game knotted at 6-6 in the first half, Roger Williams used a 7-2 run, capped by a lay-up from Carly Spagnola (Millbrook, NY) to open a five-point lead at 13-8 midway through the stanza. Wellesley cut the lead to three, with two free-throws from Malia Maier (Torrance, CA), but the Hawks closed the half with a 12-5 run to go into the break with a 10-point cushion at 25-15.
Strong defense combined with nine Roger Williams turnovers allowed the Blue to open with 10 of the second half's first 11 points. A lay-up from Roger Williams' Paige Congdon (Westwood, MA) with 7:42 remaining in the game was the first field-goal of the half for the Hawks as the Blue held them to just one point over the first 12 minutes of the period.
Roger Williams increased the lead back to eight points at 39-31 as Lanieri sunk a lay-up with 2:26 to play. Wellesley would add two-points from Katie Martore (Great Falls, VA) at the charity stripe, but the Blue would get no closer, dropping the 39-33 decision.
Lanieri finished with a game-high in rebounds and a team-best in points for Roger Williams. The Hawks also got 10 points and five steals from Elizabeth Kilzi (Waverly, PA) and five assists from Spagnola.
Wellesley was led by first-years Maier and Becca Kimball (Weston, MA) who each notched game-highs of 13 points, while also adding six rebounds. Kimball also added four steals while Ashleigh Sargent (Bedford, NH) picked up three blocks in the loss.
Roger Williams is back in action in this weekend's Emmanual College Tournament, as the Hawks take on Emmanuel on Saturday at 2:30pm. Wellesley returns home on Saturday, hosting Albertus Magnus at 2:00pm.