MILTON, Mass. – The Nichols College women's basketball team struggled from the field in a 64-38 defeat at the hands of Curry College on Tuesday night in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) game in Milton, Mass.
 
The Bison drop to 3-8 overall and 1-4 in conference games, while the Colonels improve to 8-5 and 4-2 in league games. Nichols returns home on Thursday night when they host Salve Regina University at 5:30 p.m.
 
Nichols shot 22% (9-of-41) from the floor, while hitting only 23.1% (3-of-13) of its three-pointers, but connected on 89.5% (17-of-19) of its free throws in the setback. Curry shot 41.4%% (24-of-58) from the field, 35% (7-of-20) from beyond the arc, and 69.2%% (9-of-13) at the free throw line. The Colonels won the rebounding battle 37-31, and forced 26 Bison turnovers leading to 35 points off turnovers while committing only 18 turnovers.
 
Sophomore Jessica Larsh led Nichols with 12 points, while seniors Allison Cerrato and Brooke Packard added six points apiece. Senior Brittany Donovan added five points, with freshman Desiree Rivera netting four points and grabbing three rebounds. Cerrato, sophomore Mekaela Fithian-Giantonio, and freshman Isabella Nerneyhad four rebounds apiece, with Nerney adding three steals.
 
Curry was led by 21 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals from junior Emily Irwin. Junior Molly Plunkett added 19 points and seven rebounds, while senior Nicole Rice had eight points and eight rebounds.
 
A pair of free throws from Cerrato tied the game at 4-4 with 5:22 to play in the first quarter, but Curry answered with five-straight points to take a 9-4 advantage a little under two minutes later. Larsh ended the run by banking home a jumper from the top of the key, and a pair of free throws from the sophomore made it a 13-10 game with six seconds to play in the first quarter.
 
With time running down, Curry's Irwin connected on a shot from near half court to put the Colonels on top 16-10 at the end of one period.
 
The Colonels extended their lead to 29-10 with a 13-0 to start the second quarter until a free throw from Brittany Donovan ended the scoring drought with 2:48 to play in the first half. Larsh connected on a triple to make it a 29-14 deficit, but the Colonels answered with 10-straight points before junior Mekaela Fithian-Giantonio hit a three before the horn to make it a 39-17 game at the half.
 
Larsh opened the second half with a three-pointer and a score inside from Cerrato pulled the Bison to within 39-22, but the Colonels eventually took a 56-22 lead following a layup from junior Molly Plunkett with less than a minute to play. Donovan hit a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the quarter as the Bison trailed 56-24 after three stanzas.
 
Nichols would only get as close as 26 the rest of the way as the Colonels walked away with the 64-38 victory.
 
All-Time Series
Tuesday night marked the 50th game in the series between the two teams and the Colonels lead the all-time series 31-19.