NEW LONDON, N.H. – February 4, 2017 – Senior Lexi Iannone (North Haven, Conn.) had 22 points and nine rebounds to lead the Colby-Sawyer women's basketball team over intrastate rival New England College, 82-63 in North Atlantic Conference (NAC) action at the Hogan Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

Prior to the game, seniors Kristin Ellis (South Easton, Mass.), Iannone and Ally Mignault (Billerica, Mass.) were honored for their years of dedication to Colby-Sawyer and the women's basketball team.

Colby-Sawyer improves to 14-7 overall and 9-5 in conference play. The Chargers will host Johnson State on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. New England College falls to 16-5 overall and 10-4 in the NAC. The Pilgrims host Lyndon on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
 
Iannone shot 10-of-14 from the floor to lead all players with 22 points. Freshman Lexie Hamilton (Sunapee, N.H.) scored 19 points and tallied eight assists. Freshman Tianna Sugars (Oxford, Maine) collected her second double-double of the season with 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting and 11 rebounds. She also had a game best three blocks. Junior Amanda Calvo (South Deerfield, Mass.) was the fourth Charger in double figures with 10 points. Ellis had 10 boards and three steals.
 
Freshman Rene Hudson (Gallatin, Tenn.) was the lone Pilgrim in double figures with 19 points. Junior Marissa Kopacz (Belchertown, Mass.) was second on the team with eight points and seven rebounds. Senior Tiffany Davis (Baltimore, Md.) scored seven points and pulled down a team best 10 rebounds.
 
Lexi Iannone opened the game with a layup, but NEC then scored 10 straight points capped by a Hudson jumper to take a 10-2 lead. Colby-Sawyer answered with a 12-0 run capped by an Alli Barrett (Kittery, Maine) to retake a 14-10 lead. The game was tied for the first time at 15-15 with 1:13 left in the frame before NEC used a Hudson trey with time running out to take a 21-18 lead at the end of 10 minutes.
 
Colby-Sawyer scored the first seven points of the second to take a 25-21 lead and held an advantage for the rest of the half.  The Chargers took a 35-34 lead into the break. The home team shot 7-for-15 for the second straight quarter, while NEC was held to 4-of-14 in the second.
 
Hudson began the second half with a lay-in and was followed by a layup from Kopacz to give NEC the 38-35 lead. Amanda Calvo then went on an 8-2 run of her own to put Colby-Sawyer back in front 43-40 with 6:42 to play in the third. The Chargers later built the advantage to 11 after six straight points from Tianna Sugars, but NEC climbed back thanks to 12 points from Hudson in the quarter. Ellis ended the stanza with a free throw to send the Chargers into the fourth quarter ahead 56-54.
 
Tiffany Davis tied the game at 56-56 with a layup to open the fourth, but Colby-Sawyer turned up the defense and went on a 20-0 run to take command of the game, 76-56, with 3:46 left to play. Colby-Sawyer turned five fourth quarter NEC turnovers into 13 points and scored 14 points in the paint to win the quarter 26-9 and the game 82-63.
 
The Chargers outscored NEC 44-24 in the paint and 23-2 on the break. 

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