DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College women's basketball team rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit to down Curry College 48-43 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action Wednesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

The nation's sixth-leading rebounder at 14.2 rpg, senior Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.) snared a career-high 21 rebounds and also scored a team-high 14 points for her 11th double-double of the season as the Bison (6-10, 3-7 CCC) posted their second-straight win. Junior Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) went for nine points, four rebounds and four steals while both senior Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.) and junior Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) netted eight points.

Sophomore and leading-scorer Kylie Beltz (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) filled the stat sheet with 14 points, eight rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks to lead the Colonels (8-9, 4-6 CCC), who were outscored 32-14 in the second half. Sophomore Jeanette Fallon (Nashua, N.H.) chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds.

Already leading by 13 points to start the second half, the Colonels extended their lead to 16 on a basket by senior Carolyn Houston (Melrose, N.Y.) six minutes in. The Bison then held Curry scoreless over the next seven-plus minutes to pull to within three (38-35) with 5:21 remaining. Lindgren started Nichols' 13-0 run with a layup, followed by a free throw from Spirka, a layup by senior Natalie Wilson (Bedford, N.H.), a three-point play from Pelletier, a jumper by Lindgren, and two free throws from Zophin.

Fallon's basket with 5:12 remaining stopped the bleeding and pushed Curry's lead to five at 40-35. A layup by Zophin and a three from Pelletier tied the game at 40 with 3:23 on the clock, and with the game tied once again – this time at 43 – with 1:35 to go, Spirka stepped up and sank two free throws to put the Bison ahead for good.

"We came out a little stagnant in the first half, but the kids came out with a completely different energy in the second half," said Nichols first-year head coach Alice Mullen. "They chipped away and started to hit some shots. For the first time all season, I thought we played like a mature team down the stretch. We hit our foul shots, and that's what mature teams do."

The Colonels shot 40 percent in the opening stanza and held Nichols to just 23 percent (7-of-30) to take a 29-16 lead at the break. Beltz led all scorers with 10 points while Wilson and Spirka each had five for Nichols. In the second half, however, Curry slipped to 21 percent shooting, and Nichols' 31 percent clip was good enough to get the win. The Bison finished the contest 70 percent from the line (16-of-23).

Nichols returns to action on Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest at Western New England. Curry hosts Gordon Saturday at 1 p.m.