DUDLEY, Mass. – Freshman Brooke Packard (Dudley, Mass.) scored a career-high 14 points in Nichols College's 53-44 win over Gordon College Thursday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
Senior captain Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore Taylor Daniels (Dudley, Mass.) came off the bench to score 11 points and dishing out three assists. Freshman Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.) snared a team-high nine boards and senior captain Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with eight points, nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
The Bison (5-15, 2-11 CCC) shot 32 percent and forced 22 turnovers which led to 16 points at the other end of the floor. Nichols also outrebounded Gordon 45-36. The Fighting Scots (3-17, 1-12 CCC) – who were led by junior Olivia Vetere (Mahopac, N.Y.) with 14 points – shot 36 percent.
Nichols fell behind 11-2 as freshman Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) scored five points and classmate Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) added four. The Bison regrouped and finished the half on a 25-9 run to take a seven-point lead to the locker room. Litwinko led all scorers with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting while Wegrzynek dropped in seven points and Daniels canned a pair of three-pointers. Gordon closed the stanza with more turnovers (16) than shot attempts (15), but still made 47 percent of its field goal attempts (7-of-15).
Litwinko converted a layup 5:16 into the second half to push the Bison lead to 12 at 35-23. After the Fighting Scots cut their deficit to four at the 12:30 mark, baskets from Litwinko, Packard, and Daniels helped the Bison regain a nine-point lead (43-34) with 10:23 to go. Vetere made a layup with 8:41 remaining to get Gordon to within seven before back-to-back layups from Packard and Wegrzynek sealed the win.
Smith finished the night with 10 points, five rebounds, and two blocks for Gordon. Nichols junior Jessica Kelliher (Marshfield, Mass.) recorded seven boards, five assists, two points, and one steal in 35 minutes.
The Bison host Western New England Saturday at noon. The Fighting Scots host Curry Saturday at 1 p.m.