BEVERLY, Mass. – The Nichols College women's basketball team fell to Endicott College, 72-41, on Wednesday night in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup in Beverly, Mass.
 
Nichols falls to 3-14 overall and 1-9 in the CCC, while Endicott improves to 9-9 and 7-4 in league games. Nichols returns to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Gordon College for a 1:00 p.m. matchup with the Fighting Scots.
 
The Bison dressed only eight players to start the game, and after an injury, played only six over the final two and a half quarters in the setback. Four Nichols freshmen played over 20 minutes in the game, with all of them setting career-highs in minutes played.
 
Freshman Isabella Nerney played all 40 minutes and led the Bison with 15 points, eight rebounds, and a pair of steals. Senior Allison Cerrato added 13 points and five rebounds, while junior Mekaela Fithian-Giantonio and freshman Shannon St. Lawrence added four points apiece. St. Lawrence also grabbed seven rebounds in a career-best 30 minutes, while Fithian-Giantonio added four rebounds and two assists.
 
10 of the 11 players that checked into the game for Endicott scored at least one basket, led by a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds from sophomore Emily Pratt. Senior Hannah Kiernan added 12 points and four assists, with sophomore Mikaela Rogers posting 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
 
Nerney tied the game with a three-pointer early in the first quarter, but the Gulls answered with 10-straight points to force a Bison timeout with Nichols trailing 13-3. Cerrato ended the run with a pair of free throws, and freshman Beth Laing later made it a 15-7 deficit with 1:29 to play in the period. Endicott scored the final four points of the quarter to take a 19-7 lead after one stanza.
 
A Nerney layup and a pair of Larsh free throws sandwiched a score from Endicott sophomore Kaleigh Putnam to keep it a 23-11 game with 8:17 remaining in the second quarter, but the Gulls used an 18-1 run to end the half and take a 41-13 lead into the break.
 
Nichols opened the second half with a 7-2 run to make it a 43-20 game, and a layup inside from Cerrato with 5:29 remaining in the third quarter cut the deficit to 45-26. Nerney was able to score off an out of bounds play to keep it a 55-32 deficit, and the Gulls took a 59-32 lead into the fourth quarter.
 
A quick 5-0 spurt from the Bison in the first minute of the fourth quarter, including a triple from Nerney, pulled the Bison to 59-37, and then both offenses went quiet over the next three minutes until a layup inside by Hannah Kiernan ended the drought and forced a Nichols timeout with 5:56 remaining. Unfortunately for the Bison, Endicott ended the game on a 13-4 run to pull away for the victory.
 
Nichols ended the game shooting 21.8% (12-of-55) from the field, while hitting only 16.7% (2-of-12) of its three-pointers, and 68.2% (15-of-22) of its free throws. Endicott knocked down 38% (27-of-71) of its shot attempts, 16% (4-of-25) of its three-pointers, and 93.3% (14-of-15) of its free throws. The Gulls held a 54-35 advantage in rebounding and committed nine turnovers compared to 13 for the visitors.
 
All-Time Series
Wednesday night marked the 28th meeting between the two programs and Endicott leads the all-time series, 23-5.