Wenham, Mass. - The visiting Trinity College Bantams doubled up the Gordon College Fighting Scots in the fourth quarter and walked away with an 81-70 victory in women's basketball action this evening at Bennett Center. The Bantams trailed, 38-31, at halftime and, 56-53, after three quarters, but Trinity juniors Courtney Erickson (Everett, Mass.) and Erin Cunningham (Wilton, Conn.) combined for 16 points in the final stanza to lead the Bantams to a 28-to-14 advantage in the quarter. Trinity closes the fall semester with a 7-1 record and takes three weeks off before returning to action on December 28 against the Maine Maritime Academy in the Hat City Classic at Western Connecticut State University. Gordon drops to 2-6 with its fourth loss in a row.
Cunningham hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 8:37 on the clock to give Trinity a 58-56 lead, but Gordon's Abby Vantapella returned the favor at the 7:22 mark. Trinity sophomore guard Meghan Lewis (Demarest, N.J.) assisted Erickson on a layup to give Trinity back the lead at 60-59 with 6:53 remaining, and Erickson followed up with a traditional three-point play moments later. Cunningham and Lewis added buckets inside to complete a 9-0 Trinity run and the Bantams led, 67-59, midway through the fourth frame. Meghan Foley scored for the Fighting Scots with 34 seconds left to cut the Trinity lead to 75-70, but Cunningham, Erickson, and junior guard Erica Junquet (Monroe, N.J.) went 6-for-6 from the foul line down the stretch.
The teams played to a 16-16 tie after one quarter, but Gordon outscored Trinity, 13-4, in the first six minutes of the second quarter to take a nine-point lead. The Bantams closed out the quarter with an 11-9 run to make it a 38-31 game and cut the deficit to seven points at halftime. In the second half, Gordon stretched its lead out to 15 with a 9-1 run in the first four minutes of the third quarter. Cunningham scored 10 points and Erickson had nine in the third quarter to pull Trinity back to within three points at the final break.
Erickson finished with 27 points, including 18 in the second half, and added six rebounds, while Cunningham scored 17 of her 20 points after halftime, grabbed 10 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Sophomore Peace Kabari (Manchester, N.H.) contributed 11 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists for Trinity. Meghan Foley scored 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in the first half and finished with a career-best 29 points. Vampatella also scored a career-high 14 points and Olivia Stark scored 12 points and dished out five assists for Gordon.