Lanieri turned in an impressive performance in her first
collegiate game, totaling 11 points to go along with 16
rebounds. The win was the first of the season for the Hawks,
who improve to 1-1, while Wellesley falls to 0-2 on the
year.
With the game knotted at 6-6 in the first half, Roger Williams used
a 7-2 run, capped by a lay-up from Carly Spagnola (Millbrook, NY)
to open a five-point lead at 13-8 midway through the stanza.
Wellesley cut the lead to three, with two free-throws from
Malia Maier (Torrance, CA), but the Hawks closed
the half with a 12-5 run to go into the break with a 10-point
cushion at 25-15.
Strong defense combined with nine Roger Williams turnovers
allowed the Blue to open with 10 of the second half's first 11
points. A lay-up from Roger Williams' Paige Congdon
(Westwood, MA) with 7:42 remaining in the game was the first
field-goal of the half for the Hawks as the Blue held them to just
one point over the first 12 minutes of the period.
Roger Williams increased the lead back to eight points at 39-31 as
Lanieri sunk a lay-up with 2:26 to play. Wellesley would add
two-points from Katie Martore (Great Falls, VA) at
the charity stripe, but the Blue would get no closer, dropping the
39-33 decision.
Lanieri finished with a game-high in rebounds and a team-best in
points for Roger Williams. The Hawks also got 10 points and
five steals from Elizabeth Kilzi (Waverly, PA) and five assists
from Spagnola.
Wellesley was led by first-years Maier and Becca
Kimball (Weston, MA) who each notched game-highs of 13
points, while also adding six rebounds. Kimball also added
four steals while Ashleigh Sargent (Bedford, NH)
picked up three blocks in the loss.
Roger Williams is back in action in this weekend's Emmanual
College Tournament, as the Hawks take on Emmanuel on Saturday at
2:30pm. Wellesley returns home on Saturday, hosting
Albertus Magnus at 2:00pm