NEWPORT, R.I. – Junior Brooke Packard (Dudley, Mass.) scored a team-high 19 points for the Nichols College women's basketball team, which was defeated by Salve Regina University 72-62 in Commonwealth Coast Conference women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Rodgers Recreation Center.
 
Junior Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.) scored 13 points and sophomore Anna McDaniel (Taunton, Mass.) chipped in with 10 for the Bison, who shot 41 percent from the field and 44 percent from downtown (8-of-18).
 
Junior Ally Esielionis (Shirley, Mass.) paced the Seahawks with 15 points while senior Jillian Woodward (Orono, Maine) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Sophomore Liv Pierce (Tyngsboro, Mass.) netted 12 points for Salve Regina, which outrebounded the Bison 38-28 and shot 42 percent – including 78 percent from the charity stripe (18-of-23).
 
The Seahawks led 27-15 after one before Nichols outscored them 24-12 in the second quarter to knot the game at 39 at the half. Cerrato led all student-athletes with 12 points (4-of-4 FG) while McDaniel threw in 10 points and Packard sank a pair of three-pointers and collected eight points. Nichols shot 58 percent (5-of-10 three-pointers).
 
Salve Regina was led by Pierce with nine points while Woodward netted eight points and Esielionis made three of her four shots and scored seven points. The Seahawks sank 45 percent of their shots and made nine of their 10 free throws.
 
Nichols was outscored 20-7 in the third and trailed 59-46 heading into the fourth. Esielionis led all scorers with eight points in the frame. SRU led by as many as 16 in the fourth and held a double-digit lead for nearly the entire stanza. Packard knocked down a three with 3:07 to go to get Nichols to within single digits at 70-62, but it did not record another field goal.
 
All-Time Series
Today's contest marked the 48th all-time meeting between Nichols College and Salve Regina University. The Seahawks have now won the last 15 meetings and lead the series, 35-13.
 
Next Games
Nichols (2-21, 2-14 CCC) – Wednesday, February 15 @ Eastern Nazarene, 5:00 p.m.
Salve Regina (8-15, 6-10 CCC) – Tuesday, February 14 @ Endicott, 5:30 p.m.