DUDLEY, Mass. (2/10/24) – The Nichols College women's basketball team honored its four graduating seniors prior to a conference showdown with Suffolk University on Saturday afternoon. Despite giving the Rams all they could handle, the game slipped away from the Bison at the tail end by a final score of 88-79 at the Nichols Athletic Center.

The Bison fall to 11-12 (6-8 CCC) overall, while the Rams improve to 18-5 (11-3 CCC).

All four seniors stood out in the effort for Nichols. Abrianna Vazquez poured in 17 points to lead the Bison attack, in addition to a game-high five steals. Kiera Fernandes had 17 points, while Summer Klein scored 11 points with four rebounds. Finally, Leandra Ortiz tied the team-lead in the game with five boards, in addition to three assists. Through the full 40 minutes, the Bison scored 42 points off of 38 Suffolk turnovers and finished the day shooting 27-of-79 (34.2) from the field.

The first 10 minutes of action saw four ties and seven lead changes between the Bison and Rams. After Suffolk grabbed an early 8-0 edge in the first quarter, succeeding three-pointers by Fernandes helped the Bison draw even with the Rams at 8-8. For the remainder of the quarter, both sides traded points with Suffolk holding a narrow two-point, 22-20 lead through one.

Through the first five minutes of the second quarter, the Rams had expanded their lead to 32-24 thanks to an 8-2 run. Then, with 3:00 to play, a Vazquez triple followed by a Klein layup helped lessen the Bison deficit to four points, but to no avail as Suffolk built its lead up to nine points, 37-27 with the half's final five points.  

In the third quarter half, the Rams upped their lead to as many as 13 points, 49-36 with 7:19 to go. However, the Bison whittled away at the deficit to pull within three, 51-48 after pushing back with a 12-2 run, capped off by a Rylee Barrieault triple. Following a stretch of alternating play, and with under two minutes to play, Vazquez cashed in for three points after drawing the and-one off a made layup, putting Nichols ahead for the first time in the half, 61-60. At the end of the third quarter, the two teams found themselves deadlocked at 63-63.

Nichols looked energized in the opening minutes of the final quarter, piecing together a 7-2 run to claim their largest lead of the contest, 70-65. However, things quickly turned on the Bison as the Rams ran away with the game with 12 unanswered points, putting themselves back in front by a seven-point margin. Suffolk would never relinquish the lead again, and would win the game, 88-79.

Women's basketball will head out to Gordon College (5-18, 4-10 CCC) for their final road matchup of the regular season, with tipoff scheduled for 5:30 PM at the Bennett Center.