Offense Shifts Into High Gear as WBB Wins at Lesley

MEDFORD, Mass. -- Four starters scored in double figures to push the Mitchell College women's basketball team to an 88-51 victory over Lesley University on Thursday night in New England Collegiate Conference action at Medford High School.

The Mariners, who notched season highs in both points and field goal percentage (.462), improved to 6-0 in league play and are off to the best NECC start in school history. Mitchell had twice started the conference slate with five straight wins, most recently during the 2010-11 season.

Le'Sandra Turner led the Mariners with a season-high 24 points on 11-for-19 shooting. Amina Wiley finished with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Kelsey Hernandez and Francesca Pinard rounded out Mitchell's double-digits scorers with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Dejia Santana provided a big boost off the bench with eight points and eight boards in just 10 minutes of action.

Lesley's Dakota Jones led all scorers with 29 points on 12-for-19 shooting and added a game-high 12 rebounds. 

Spurred on by seven points from Hernandez in the opening quarter, the Mariners raced out to a 20-8 lead after the first 10 minutes of play. Turner stepped up to contribute eight points in the second quarter as the lead ballooned to 43-17 by halftime. Hernandez netted all 12 of her points in the first half.

Mitchell scored the first 10 points of the second half to keep the pressure on and led by as many as 38 points in the stanza. Turner scored her final 12 points after the break.

Mitchell (7-5 overall) will next play at Southern Vermont College on Saturday, January 12 at 1 p.m.