Lady Falcons Return From Break With A Win Over The Lyons

Lady Falcons Return From Break With A Win Over The Lyons

Norton, MA- The Women's Basketball team returned from the Holiday Break with a close matchup with the host Wheaton College Lyons. In the matinee on Saturday, the Falcons trailed after the first second quarters, down 38-36 at the half, but they outscored the Lyons 25-20 over the last two to take a 61-58 victory at the Haas Athletic Center. With the win the Falcons snap a two-game losing skid and improve to 8-7 while the Lyons drop to 3-7. 

Wheaton jumped out to an early 8-0 lead on baskets from four different starters, pushing it to a 12-4 lead after four minutes of play and forcing a Falcons timeout. Back-to-back buckets from Vivian Lara (Norwalk, CA) closed the gap to five but a trifecta from Lyons Natalie Wind pushed the Lyons lead to eight yet again. A 6-0 run from the Falcons got them back within two with 2:56 remaining in the first, but the Lyons closed out the first stanza with an 8-2 run for a 23-15 lead. Another Wind 3-pointer extended the Lyons to their largest lead of the game to 11 at the 6:44 mark in the second, but a 14-5 Falcons run over the next five minutes got FC back to within two capped by a Lauren Allen (Long Beach, CA) jump shot. The two teams traded threes before the half, with the home team taking a 38-36 lead into the locker room. 

The Lyons maintained their lead through most of the third until a Jenny-Lynn Eggers (Sonoma, CA) lay-up put the Falcons on top 47-46 with 2:50 remaining. A buzzer beater from Wheaton's Alexis Romer gave her team back the lead, taking a 48-47 lead into the start of the 4th. Six lead changes and a pair of ties made for an exciting fourth as the two teams battled tight down the stretch. After a Lyons free throw gave the home team a 55-54 lead, the Falcons got a huge shot from Eggers from beyond the arc to give her team the 57-55 lead with 1:32 left in the contest. Another basket from Eggers 30 seconds later pushed the lead to 59-56, but the Lyons answered quickly with a jumpshot from Bri Forbes with 24 seconds and 59-58 on the clock. Wheaton was forced to foul, sending Allen to the line for a pair. She hit one of two for the 60-58 lead, giving Wheaton the ball with 19 seconds left, but a missed lay-up kept the score the same, forcing the Lyons to foul again. Madison Kelley (Moosup, CT) hit one of two also, making it a 61-58 game with five seconds remaining. Wheaton had a chance to tie the game at the buzzer, but the three-point attempt missed and the Falcons escaped with the exciting 61-58 win.

Eggers led all scorers with 19 points, six rebounds and a pair of steals. The senior has scored in double figures in her last four games, upping her average to 11.1 points per game. Lara and Allen also finished in double figures with 15 and 11 points respectively, while Lara led the way with nine boards and Allen picked up three assists and three steals in the win. Forbes and Wind led the Lyons in double figures, tallying 14 and 10 points a piece. 

The Falcons return to action when they head to Washington Adventist for a huge AII showdown with the Shock. The action is slated for Sunday, January 12th at 4pm.