The Albertus Magnus women's basketball team picked up its second-straight victory with an 81-56 win over Simmons College on Monday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play. 

Freshman Olivia Bolden (South Windsor, Conn.) tallied a game-high 23 points as she also pulled down 15 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season and her second-straight.

The Falcons improve to 7-9 on the year and move to 2-3 in league play. Simmons falls to 4-10 on the year and 0-2 in GNAC action.

The first-half contained back-and-forth play as the Falcons went into the break with a 30-29 advantage. After the score was tied at 12, the Falcons went on a 7-0 run before a Sharks' timeout. Out of the break, Simmons battled back and the score was tied again at 26.  During the opening half, the score was tied five times and the lead changed five times as well.

Junior Olivia Sutherland (Wallingford, Conn.) gave the Falcons a one-point lead at the break.

Out of the break, the Falcons jumped out to a 12-point lead before a 10-0 run by Simmons put the Sharks back into striking distance, cutting the Falcons' lead to two at 52-50. The Falcons answered with a 5-0 run of their own to take a seven-point lead thanks to a three-point play by sophomore Megan Thornton (Worcester, Mass.).

Albertus went on to take a 25-point lead with nine seconds left on the clock, the Falcons' largest lead of the day.  Albertus out-scored the Sharks 51-27 in the second half and shot 45% from the floor in the frame to finish the game shooting 40%. Albertus also hit 21 of its 29 attempts from the free-throw line.

Kiarra Epps (Norwalk, Conn.) shot 8-of-17 from the floor to finish with a career-high 21 points.

Kelsey Pendagast (Shelton, Conn.) contributed with nine points and nine rebounds, while Thornton contributed with five points off the bench, including the key three-point play that gave the Falcons a 57-50 lead in the second half.

Sutherland contributed with 10 points for her fifth game this season with double-figure scoring numbers.

Simmons was led by Liz Brasa with 18 points, while Jennifer Janiak added 13 points as the Sharks shot 35% from the floor.

The Falcons are set to host Mt. St. Mary on Wednesday evening for a 7:00 p.m. non-conference contest.