NEWTON, Mass. - All five starters for the Albertus Magnus College women's basketball team scored in double-figures as the Falcons defeated the Lasers of Lasell University by a final score of 86-66 in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) road clash on Saturday afternoon inside the Lasell Athletic Center. 

Junior guard Caitlyn Scott (White Plains, N.Y.) led the offensive front with a team-high 22 points, five rebounds, four assists, and a steal. Diamond White (Hamden, Conn.)  was the last Falcon to score 20+ points with a season-high 21, followed by Amanda Zdru (Stratford, Conn.), Jakara Murray-Leach (Norwalk, Conn.), and Natasha Rivera (Ansonia, Conn.) who finished with 10 points apiece. 

THE BASICS
Final: Albertus Magnus 86 | Lasell 66  
Records: Albertus Magnus (13-1, 8-0 GNAC) | Lasell (3-10, 2-4 GNAC) 
Box Score

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Falcons opened the game with a 5-0 run, courtesy of Zdru, who scored an easy lay-up on the game's opening play before nailing a three-point jumper on the next possession. 
• The Lasers countered with their own 5-0 run to knot the score at 5-all before a Scott three-pointer and an Adrianna Faienza (New Britain, Conn.) lay-up pushed the Falcons' lead back to five, 10-5, with 6:04 remaining in the first quarter.
• The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes, running the score to 14-9, before back-to-back baskets from White and Scott extended the visitors' advantage to nine, 18-9. 
• Lasell managed to close the quarter on an 8-5 run, but Albertus came away with the 23-17 lead heading into the second frame.
• Behind five different scorers, Albertus kicked off the next stanza with a 10-0 run to take a commanding 16-point lead, 33-17, just four minutes in. 
• A bucket from Lasell's Laura Johnson at the 6:39 mark broke up the hosts' scoreless drought, 33-19, but a short spurt put the visitors ahead by 18, 37-19, with 4:56 left.
• Similar to the first quarter, Lasell caught a second wind late in the stanza and rallied together a 15-4 run to cut the deficit to seven, 41-34, heading into the halftime break. 
• The Lasers opened up the second quarter with a 4-0 push to cut the deficit to three, 41-38, before a made jumper from Murray-Leach pushed the Falcons' advantage back to five, 43-38.  
• Lasell wasted no time getting on the board early as back-to-back baskets from JuJu Nealy brought the hosts to within a possession, 41-38, just 46 seconds in.
• Shortly after, a jump shot from Murray-Leach ignited a 12-2 run that put the Falcons ahead by 13, 53-40, midway through the stanza. 
• A 5-2 spurt by the Lasers cut the deficit to 10, 55-45, at the 3:10 minute mark, but the Falcons responded with an 8-2 surge to push their advantage to 63-47 going into the final quarter. Scott and Zdru each scored three points, while Sharaya Keele (Adams, Mass.) chipped in with a made jumper.  
• The Falcons opened the fourth stanza with an 8-0 push to extend their lead to 71-47 until a layup from Johnson halted the run at the 7:16 mark. Murray-Leach nailed a jumper from the paint, while White found paydirt from beyond the arc twice.   
• Another 5-0 push countered a Lasers' lay-up from the Falcons. A Murray-Leach jumper preceded White's third made three-pointer of the quarter to push AMC's advantage to 76-49 with 5:01 remaining in regulation. 
• The Lasers retaliated with a 14-2 push over the next 2:44 to shrink the deficit to 15, 78-63, with 2:17 left on the clock. 
• The Falcons put together an 8-3 push over the final few minutes of regulation on baskets from Murray-Leach, Faienza, and Robin Selitte (Bridgeport, Conn.) to secure the 86-66 conference victory. 

TEAM STATS
Albertus: 48.6% FG | 43.8% 3PT | 57.9% FT
Lasell: 32.5% FG | 22.2% 3PT | 66.7% FT

PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS

Albertus:
Caitlyn Scott - 22 points (8-21 FG, 3-10 3PT, 3-4 FT) | 5 rebounds | 4 assists | 1 steal 
Diamond White - 21 points (9-14 FG, 3-3 3PT, 0-1 FT) | 4 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal 
Jakara Murray-Leach - 10 points (4-13 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2-3 FT) | 17 rebounds | 4 assists | 2 blocks 
Natasha Rivera - 10 points (4-6 FG, 2-4 FT) | 5 rebounds | 2 steals | 3 blocks 
Amanda Zdru - 10 points (3-8 FG, 1-2 3PT, 3-4 FT) | 1 assist 

Lasell:
Shirle Major - 15 points (6-18 FG, 2-6 3PT, 1-2 FT) | 6 rebounds | 4 assists | 2 steals
Laura Johnson - 12 points (6-11 FG) | 5 rebounds | 1 steal 
Jasmine DePina - 12 points (6-15 FG) | 8 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal | 1 block 
Juju Nealy - 10 points (4-12 FG, 1-4 3PT, 1-2 FT) | 2 rebounds | 1 assist | 1 steal 
Brenna Graber - 10 points (2-8 FG, 0-3 3PT, 6-6 FT) | 4 rebounds | 1 steal  

NOTEWORTHY

• The Falcons are 13-3 all-time against Lasell and have won the last nine straight match-ups.
• Scott recorded her 10th game of the season of 20+ points in this afternoon's contest. 
• Zdru has scored 10+ points in three straight games and has surpassed 10 points four times this season. 
• White netted a season-high 21 points and has scored in double-figures in nine games this season, including the last four. 
• Murray-Leach has grabbed 10+ boards in seven games and is averaging 16.3 rebounds over her last three games.
• The Falcons currently boast the best overall record in the GNAC and are one of only three teams to have surpassed 1000 points scored at this point in the season (Rivier 1129, Emmanuel 1119, AMC 1059). 

UP NEXT
The women's basketball team will head to Johnson & Wales (R.I.) University on Tuesday. Jan 17, for a 5:30 p.m. conference clash at the Wildcat Center in Providence, R.I.