Mariners Stay Hot at Dean

FRANKLIN, Mass. -- The Mitchell College women's basketball team turned in a 78-65 victory at Dean College on Tuesday night in New England Collegiate Conference action at Pieri Gymnasium.

The Mariners (7-7 overall, 3-1 NECC) led 17-4 after the opening quarter and never let the margin dip below double digits the rest of the way. Le'Sandra Turner scored a team-high 20 points on 9-for-13 shooting and added four rebounds, four steals and four assists. Amina Wiley recorded a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds while Kelsey Hernandez finished with 17 points and three assists. Sam McKenna drained four three-pointers and chipped in 14 points. 

Makayla Rudder led all scorers with 26 points to pace Dean (3-9 overall, 2-1 NECC), which committed 22 turnovers and shot just 36 percent for the game. Stephanie Conrad was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 12 points. 

Rudder scored on Dean's opening possession of the contest, but the Bulldogs then struggled the rest of the period. Dean endured a scoring drought of 6:30 before Rudder connected again, although by that point the Mariners had built a 15-4 lead thanks to the strong play of Turner and Wiley. The Bulldogs shot just 2-for-14 in the stanza and turned the ball over seven times. 

Mitchell led 39-19 at halftime and took its largest lead on a three-pointer by McKenna that made it 62-34 with 3:27 to go in the third quarter. The Bulldogs made up some of the deficit in the fourth quarter as the Mariners emptied the bench, although the outcome was never in question.

Mitchell will next host Eastern Nazarene College on Saturday, January 18 at 1 p.m.