PAXTON, Mass. – The Nichols College women's basketball team earned their first win of the 2017-18 campaign with a 78-44 victory over Anna Maria College on Monday night in Paxton, Mass.
 
The win marked victory No. 1 for head coach MaryLynn Skarzenski '09 since returning to Nichols over the summer. Skarzenski now sits at 91 career wins as a head coach.
 
Senior Brooke Packard led the Bison with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting to go with two rebounds and two steals. Sophomore Jessica Larsh added an all-around game with 14 points, four rebounds, seven assists and two steals, while senior Allison Cerrato registered a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. Junior Amy Assad chipped in 12 points off the bench, and graduate student Brittany Donovan posted five points and six rebounds.
 
Anna Maria was led by 12 points from senior Kristina Russo. Junior Shannon Hofmiller added seven points, while sophomore Hailey Moore and freshman Marissa Amidio netted six points apiece. Senior Maritza Gustave grabbed a team-high eight rebounds off the bench.
 
The Bison shot 27-of-75 (36%) from the field, 7-of-21 (33.3%) from beyond the arc, and 17-of-24 (70.8%) from the charity stripe in the win. The AMCats went 15-for-61 (24.6%) from the field, while only hitting 5-of-22 (22.7%) of their three-pointers and 9-of-15 (60%) of their free throws. Nichols held a 40-28 advantage in rebounding in the game, and turned 20 Anna Maria turnovers into 29 points.
 
Nichols trailed 14-10 after the first quarter of play, but the Bison exploded for 29 points in the second period while holding the home team to just seven points to take a 39-21 advantage into the half. Packard scored 12 points during the second frame, while Assad added seven and Larsh netted six points.
 
Anna Maria fought back to start the third quarter as a layup from Hofmiller trimmed the Nichols lead to 42-29 with 8:14 remaining in the period. The Bison answered with an 11-0 run over the next two minutes to jump back on top 53-29.
 
Nichols eventually took a 62-35 advantage at the end of the third quarter, and built their largest lead of the game at 76-37 with less than three minutes to play in the fourth period on the way to their first win of the season.
 
All-Time Series
Monday night's game marked the 56th meeting all-time between the two programs, and the Bison hold a 33-23 advantage in the series dating back to 1978. Nichols snapped a two-game losing skid to the AMCats with the win.
 
Next Games
Nichols (1-1) – Wednesday, Nov. 29 vs. Endicott, 5:30 p.m.
Anna Maria (0-4) – Thursday, Nov. 30 at Lesley, 8:00 p.m.