MILTON, Mass. (1/20/24) – The Nichols College women's basketball team pieced together a new program single-game record in points scored with a lopsided 114-92 victory over Curry College in conference play at Dr. Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.

Nichols now has wins in back-to-back contests and improves to 8-8 (5-4 CCC) on the season, while the Colonels drop to 5-11 (0-8 CCC) with the loss at home. It is the third time this season that the Bison have eclipsed 100 points in a single game.

In addition to breaking the single-game points record, the Bison also saw a new program best 41 field goals made on 41-of-100 (41.0%) shooting and three-pointers made with 20 on 50 attempts (40.0%).

Nichols saw a whopping seven players score in double-figures in the effort, led by senior Leandra Ortiz with 20 points and five steals. Three players matched each other on the score-sheet with 17 points apiece, one of whom was Abrianna Vazquez who came up just shy of a double-double with a game-high nine rebounds. The other pair of 17-point scorers was Kiera Fernandes and Alyvia Smith, while Summer Klein and Adriana Romano secured 15 and 10 points respectively. The Bison converted on 39 of their points off of Curry turnovers, with 49 total off the bench.

Romano broke the seal for the Bison with a layup 39 seconds in, which fronted an 11-4 run to open the game. From there, Curry struggled to narrow the gap as Nichols maintained a consistent offensive output, which included another 7-0 run to expand their lead to 18-8 with 5:14 left. The Bison claimed their largest lead of 20 points with 1:53 to play on a made three-pointer by Vazquez, which carried over into the second quarter by a 33-13 score.

Both sides of Curry's game improved in the second quarter, which proved to be the only victory for the hosts as they outscored Nichols 24-15. For the Bison, shots stopped falling as they shot just 14.7% from the floor, while Curry saw 60.0% success on their end. The biggest point production for Curry came in the form of an 11-0 run midway through, which shaved the Bison lead down to just eight points at 35-27. The Curry momentum continued the rest of the half but failed to faze Nichols as the guests remained in the lead 48-37 at the break.

The Bison rediscovered their offensive ways in the third quarter, extending their lead to as much as 26 points with improved success from both the field (50.0%) and behind the arc (44.4%). With under three minutes to play, Curry tried to turn things around with a 17-5 run, but again struggled to pull within comeback range of the Bison. As the fourth quarter started, Nichols remained in command by an 81-68 score.

By the five-minute mark of the final period, Nichols had already surpassed their previous record with 105 points on the board, with both teams successfully converting on possessions. With Nichols denying Curry any type of run, the Bison emerged victorious by the 114-92 final score.

Women's hoops will return home to the Nichols Athletic Center for the opening game of Cancer Awareness Night against University of Hartford on Tuesday, January 23^rd. The "Pink Out" Game coverage begins at 5:30 PM.