The Albertus Magnus women's basketball team opened the 2013-14 season with a 79-65 victory over Becker College on Tuesday night in New Haven. Senior Lianna Carrero (Hamden, Conn.) led the charge for the Falcons as she scored 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting from the floor.
With tonight's win, the Falcons have now won their season opener three years in a row. With the loss, Becker falls to 0-3 on the year.
Albertus opened tonight's contest with a 12-0 run in the first three minutes before extending its lead to 19-1 midway through the half. With 10:01 left in the frame, the Falcons held its largest lead of the half at 20 points.
At the break, the Falcons held a 37-21 advantage, while shooting 34.4% from the floor and 70.6% from the free-throw line. Carrero tallied 16 of her 34 points in the opening half and shot 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.
In the second half, the Hawks outscored the Falcons 44-42 and were led by Brooke Martel who finished the night with 23 points and 10 rebounds. Markel led the Hawks to an impressive 61.5 shooting percentage from the field in the second half.
With 2:30 left in regulation, a lay-up by Gabrielle Gallo cut the Albertus lead to 10 at 71-61 after the Hawks were down by 21 at the 15:32 mark of the second half.
On the night, the Hawks out-rebounded the Falcons 42-32 and picked up 30 defensive boards.
Albertus shot 54.8% in the second frame and finished the night with a 44.4% showing from the field. Annie Raucci (Milford, Conn.) added 11 points and eight rebounds for the Falcons, while Chelsea Sherrod (Bridgeport, Conn.) led the Falcons with 10 rebounds to go along with six points.
Annie Sutila (Bridgeport, Conn.) also scored in double figures as she scored 13 points and hit 3-of-9 from behind the arc. Freshman Megan Thornton (Worcester, Mass.) scored her first career points as a Falcon as she was 1-of-1 from the floor.
Becker's Haley Ooms dished out 10 assists in the contest and pulled down six boards to go along with nine points.
Albertus scored 29 points off of 34 Becker turnovers in the contest as well.
The Falcons are now 3-0 all-time against Becker dating back to the 2000-01 season.
The Falcons will return to action on Saturday when they head to Middletown, Conn. for the Courtyard by Marriot Tournament hosted by Wesleyan University. On Saturday, the Falcons will play a 2:00 p.m. contest against UMass-Boston before heading back to Middletown on Sunday to take on Wesleyan in a 2:00 p.m. match-up.
