NEWTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team opened its 2022 portion of the season with a dominating road victory over the Lasers of Lasell University by a score of 101-58 on Wednesday evening in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) clash.

The Falcons' offensive unit was led by five double-digit scorers, including three 20-point performances from Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.), Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.), and Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.). Scott finished with a team-leading 24 points, while Murray-Leach and White finished with 22 and 20 points, respectively. Sophomore Carsyn Langhorn (Norwalk, Conn.) posted a season-high 14 points, while Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points. 

THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 101  | Lasell 58
Records: Albertus Magnus (4-7, 3-1) | Lasell (5-6, 3-2)     
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The Falcons roared out of the gate early, taking a quick 5-0 lead behind a deep three from Scott and a pair of made free throw attempts from White, 1:36 into the frame. Shortly after, the Lasers responded with a rapid 8-0 run to take the 8-5 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the quarter. Scott quickly tied the game at 8-all on the next possession with her second trey of the quarter.

The teams traded baskets over the next two minutes, running the score to 12-12 before the Falcons exploded for a 9-2 run to end the quarter with a 21-14 lead. Murray-Leach added four points during the run, while White chipped in with five that included a lay-up and a last-second three-pointer.

Albertus continued to apply pressure to start the second quarter, going on a quick 4-0 spurt, with Scott and Langhorn each putting in a lay-up to give the Falcons a 25-14 lead. The Lasers retaliated with their own spurt before Scott dropped another trey on the hosts to make it a 28-19 game. Langhorn added to the Falcons' burst with a three-point play, before White swooshed another triple-point shot to extend the visitor's lead to 13, 34-21 with 6:59 remaining in the half.

The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, before White nailed another three-pointer, extending the Falcons' lead to 16, 41-25. Rivera added to the offensive onslaught, nailing back-to-back three-pointers and pushing the Falcons' lead to 22, 47-25, with just under two minutes left in the first half. The Lasers finished off the stanza with a 5-1 run, sending the teams into the halftime break, with the Falcons holding the 48-30 lead.

The Falcons wasted no time in the third quarter, putting together an 8-0 run that included a pair of lay-ups from Murray-Leach, a lay-up from Scott, and a lay-up from Rivera. The Lasers responded with their own 12-7 run with just under five minutes remaining in the third to make it a 63-42 game. 

The Falcons put together a quick 4-0 push on made jumpers from Scott and Murray-Leach with 2:49 left to play in the third. A Lasers three-pointer cut the deficit to 67-45 before Murray-Leach nailed her own trey to make it a 70-45 game.

Off the bench, Sharaya Keele (Adams, Mass.) sank back-to-back lay-up for the Falcons to widen the gap to 29, 74-45. Despite a made lay-up from Lasers' Mia Sullivan-Sanders in the final minute of the third, the hosts' were unable to cut the deficit further and the teams transitioned to the final frame, with Albertus holding the 27-point advantage, 74-47.  

Langhorn wasted no time in the fourth frame, sinking a three-point jumper 12 seconds into play to extend the Falcons' lead to 30, 77-47. The teams traded baskets for the first four minutes of the final stanza, pushing the score to 81-52. An 8-0 run from the Falcons, behind a trey from Rivera and five points from Scott extended the visitors' lead to 89-52, before the Lasers' Sheridan Blaha hit a trey to make it 89-55 with 3:18 left to play. 

The Falcons maintained control of the game over the final three minutes, as Scott sank another lay-up, Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.) hit two free throws, and Langhorn hit back-to-back lay-ups. Down to the final 30 seconds, Katherine Raposo (Warwick, R.I.) and Murray-Leach each hit lay-ups to seal the game and give the Falcons their first 100-point performance of the season.  

TEAM STATS 

• Albertus:  53.2% FG | 46.2% 3PT | 53.8% FT
• Lasell: 32.3%  FG | 26.1% 3PT | 55.6% FT

KEY PERFORMERS

Albertus:

• Caitlyn Scott- 24 points (10-15 FG, 4-6 3PT, 0-1 FT) | 6 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal
• Jakara Murray-Leach - 22 points (10-19 FG, 1-5 3PT, 1-2 FT) | 6 rebounds | 1 assist | 3 steals
• Diamond White - 20 points (7-14 FG, 3-6 3PT, 3-5 FT) | 1 rebound | 2 assists | 5 steals 
• Carsyn Langhorn - 14 points (6-11 FG, 1-3 3PT, 1-1 FT) | 1 rebound | 2 steals  

Lasell:

• Juju Nealy - 17 points (5-13 FG, 3-7 3PT, 4-5 FT) | 2 assists | 2 steals
• Jasmine DePina - 12 points (4-6 FG, 4-8 - FT) | 7 rebounds | 1 assists | 3 steals

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the 15th all-time meeting between the Falcons and Lasers.
• Albertus leads the all-time series with a 12-3 record. 
• All nine players for Albertus scored at least two points to lead the team victory.
• White's 20-point performance was the third of her career. 
• Langhorn's 14 points were a season-high. 
• Rivera has scored 10+ points in three of her last four games. 
• Albertus shot a season-best 53.2% from the floor and 46.2% from behind the arc.
• The Falcons also set a season-high in steals with 18.
• Murray-Leach has scored 20 or more points in back-to-back games.
• Scott's 24-point performance was a season-high.

UP NEXT

The Falcons return to action on Saturday, January 15th with a road conference tilt against Emmanuel (Mass.) College. Tip-off is set for 3 PM in Boston, Mass.