Lianna Carrero (Hamden, Conn.) scored a career-high 31 points to lead the Albertus Magnus women's basketball team to a 64-59 victory over Springfield College on Tuesday night in New Haven.
The Falcons finish the 2012 portion of their schedule with an 8-1 overall record as Springfield falls to 1-7 on the year with their seventh-straight loss.
Carrero hit 9-of-20 from the floor and 13-of-15 from the free-throw line to register her fourth game of the year with 20 or more points. Tonight also marked her ninth-straight game in double figures. The junior now has 958 points in her career and is just 42 points shy of becoming the 10th all-time Albertus Magnus women's basketball player to score 1,000 career points.
The Falcons struggled from the floor in the opening half, shooting just 30.3% as they began the contest missing their first seven consecutive baskets before Annie Sutila (Bridgeport, Conn.) knocked in a three-pointer at the 16:02 mark of the frame.
The Falcons' first lead of the game came at the 12:54 mark of the half (10-9) as Albertus went on a 10-0 run to extend its lead to 15-9 a minute later. Springfield took back the lead at 20-19 before the Falcons went on a 12-5 run to finish out the half. Lindsay Karle (Wallingford, Conn.) capped off the first-half scoring as she hit a three-point field goal at the buzzer to give the Falcons a 31-25 lead at the break.
Springfield opened the second half with a 12-6 run to tie the game at 37 at the 13:37 mark of the frame. Albertus answered with a 14-3 run thanks to both Carrero and Karle who traded baskets for the Falcons to extend their lead to 11. With just over 10 minutes remaining in the game, the Falcons took their largest lead of the contest at 13 as Karle hit one of her four 3-pointers on the night. A lay-up by Tamara Tribble with 4:16 to go cut the Falcons' lead to one at 56-55 before a Karle bucket and a three-point play by Carrero extended the Falcons' advantage to 61-55. The Falcons hit 3-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final minute to secure the non-conference victory.
Karle finished the night with 23 points for her fourth-straight game with 20 or more points and her seventh of the season. Carrero added six assists, five rebounds and two steals. Lindsey Raynor (Branford, Conn.) pulled down seven rebounds in 18 minutes of work, while Annie Raucci (Milford, Conn.) added eight rebounds for the Falcons.
Jaimie Bickelhaupt led the way for the Pride as she scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Tribble added a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, while Emily Walker also pulled down double-digit rebounds with 10.
Albertus will host its first game of the New Year on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013 as the Falcons take on Newbury College in non-conference action in New Haven. That contest is scheduled for a 5:00 p.m. start.
