Women's Basketball holds off Simmons 55-47 for road win

Boston, MA- The visiting MCLA Women's Basketball team placed three players in double figures as the Trailblazers held off Simmons College 55-47 this evening in non conference action.  With the win, MCLA improves to 4-3 on the season while the Sharks are now 1-4 on the season.

Courtney McLaughlin led all scorers with a 13 point effort which included a ten point opening half.  Karina Mattera and Kayla Hotaling added 11 points each.

MCLA led at the break 29-21 and then 42-36 after three quarters of action.  They would score the first five points of the fourth quarter punctuated by a Mattera triple and suddenly it was 47-36 with 8 minutes left to play.  From there, the Sharks would claw their way back into the game.

The hosts would use an 11-4 spurt over the next seven minutes to pull within 51-47 with just 1:04 left to play.  They had a chance to cut deeper into the lead, however a turnover thwarted the rally.  MCLA's Mattera would connect on a pair from the stripe and the Trailblazers would add a few more free throws to hold off Simmons.

McLaughlin was 4-12 from the floor and added 5 steals and 4 rebounds.  Hotaling went 5-12 from the field and just missed a double double with 9 boards.  Mattera was 3-6 shooting and ended with 6 rebounds in the win.  MCLA overcame 19 turnovers and shot just 35% in the win.

Simmons had a balanced attack as they placed just one player in double figures.  Francesca Corsinetti was the lone player in double figures with 11 points.  Simmons shot just 27% from the floor and committed 23 turnovers in the loss.

MCLA is back at home on Saturday when they host Union (NY) at Noon in the Amsler Campus Center.