BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) led the way with 18 points, including going 3-for-4 from behind the arc, and recording six steals, as the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's basketball team defeated Gordon College 52-46 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon in Tansey Gymnasium.
The Leopards improve to 3-4 (1-1 CCC) while the Fighting Scots fall to 2-5 (0-2 CCC).
Junior Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) registered the first points of the game with a jumper in the opening minute. Camara hit her first 3-pointer of the afternoon with 15:36 left in the first to put Wentworth up 6-2. Gordon's Olivia Vetere (Mahopac, N.Y.) responded with a 3-pointer of her own, the first of three in the game. After a pair of Gordon free throws tied the game at 10, Wentworth jumped out to a six point lead thanks to another Camara 3-pointer to put the score at 21-15 with 3:04 remaining. Gordon managed to cut the deficit down to two with three straight layups to go into halftime down 25-23.
The Fighting Scots came out of halftime with a tying layup from Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) and a free throw from Linnell to take the 26-25 lead. Camara ensured the Gordon lead was short lived, as she hit a 3-pointer and jumper to put the Leopards ahead, 30-26. Although the two sides would tie on two more occasions, the Leopards never fell behind in the contest following Camara's shots. Wentworth scored nine unanswered to go up by 10 with 7:24 remaining. The Black & Gold would go up by double digits again at 1:41 as they lead 52-42. Vetere nailed her last 3-pointer with a minute left to bring Gordon within six, but it couldn't spark a comeback, as Wentworth held the lead to win 52-46
Senior Brooke Kratche (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) led all Gordon scorers with 16 points, while also collecting 10 rebounds. Linnell collected a game-high 13 boards to go along with nine points for the Fighting Scots.
Freshman Riselly Deoleo (Manchester, N.H.) also scored in double figures for Wentworth as she had 12 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Sophomore forward Kellie Messer (Hollis, N.H.) led the Leopards with 10 boards.
Both teams continue conference play on Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m., as the Leopards travel to Curry and Gordon hosts Nichols.