BEVERLY, Mass. (1/9/23) – The Nichols College women's basketball team struggled to find answers against in-conference, in-state opponent Endicott College on Tuesday night, as the Gulls rushed past the Bison 98-72 at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Nichols moves to 6-7 (3-3 CCC) on the season, while Endicott improves to 8-5 (4-2 CCC).

Senior Abrianna Vazquez was one of two Bison to score in double figures on the night and led the team with 23 points and a game-high seven steals. Sophomore Adriana Romano was the other, as she put up 10 points. Freshman Angie Coletti came up just shy of a double-double, collecting nine points with nine rebounds, eight of which were offensive. Through the full 40-minute effort, the Bison shot 27-of-88 (30.7%) from the field.

Through the first five minutes of a fast paced first quarter, the Bison had no issues converting on their chances as they brought things to a 7-7 tie against the Gulls with 4:17 left. However, beginning at the 4:07 mark, Endicott used the remaining time in the quarter to put together a 10-2 run, giving themselves a 17-9 advantage heading into the second stanza.

The first 14 points of the second quarter belonged to the Gulls, which furthered their lead to 22 points at 31-9. At 6:27, a made three-pointer by freshman Rylee Barrieault broke the scoreless streak for the Bison, but the host Gulls continued to stand firm and eventually pushed their lead to 24 points at the half.

Out of the break, with the Bison trailing 46-22, the Gulls made sure that the momentum remained in their corner in the second half, never allowing Nichols to close the gap to less than 23 points. Although the halftime deficit was too large to overcome, the Nichols offense fought back in the second half scoring by 50 points, which came up just shy of matching the Gulls who scored 52.

The Bison have one more to go in their three-game road trip, and will next play on Saturday, January 13^th at 1:00 PM at Suffolk University (10-4, 4-3 CCC).