QUINCY, Mass. – Senior Shelby Holmes (Seeley Lake, Mont.) recorded a double-double as she scored 19 points and grabbed a dozen rebounds to help pace the Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team to a 72-61 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Lions improve to 10-9 overall and 4-8 in CCC play while the Leopards slip to 2-17 (1-11).
Wentworth scored the first four points of the contest, thanks to a layup from senior Courtney McCormick (Hanson, Mass.) and a jumper from classmate Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.). Eastern Nazarene took its first lead of the game at the 3:17 mark of the opening frame as Holmes hit a three pointer to make it 8-6. The Leopards countered with a three from freshman Stephanie Mini (Topsfield, Mass.) to regain the lead before a senior Michelle Detwiler (Elkhart, Ind.) basket started a 7-0 run to end the first quarter.
Five straight points from Mini closed the gap to one (15-14) early in the second quarter and the Black & Gold eventually took a 19-18 lead on a sophomore Sam McGibbon (Pembroke, Mass.) three pointer. The teams traded baskets, with McCormick giving the visitors a 21-20 lead but the Lions ended the half on a 9-0 run and took a 29-21 lead at the break.
Holmes opened the third quarter with a three to make it 32-21 before two Sabino free throws and a jumper from McCormick trimmed the lead to seven (32-25). A Holmes three gave Eastern Nazarene a 37-27 lead and started a 7-0 spurt which saw the hosts take a 41-27 lead with just under six minutes left in the quarter. The Lions took a 19-point lead (49-30) on a freshman Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Scottsdale, Ariz.) basket with 2:47 left and led, 52-34 at the end of three quarters.
A pair of Sekaquaptewa free throws to open the fourth quarter gave the hosts their largest lead of the game (20) before Wentworth began to chip away, using a 10-0 run to cut the lead in half. After a senior Kayla Torio (Manteca, Calif.) three pointer put Eastern Nazarene ahead by 13, Wentworth eventually closed the gap to as few as seven late in the contest, however could not get any closer.
Torio was the only other Lion player to score in double figures as she had 11. Sekaquaptewa finished with nine points and 10 rebounds while Detwiler had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Four players scored in double figures for Wentworth, led by Mini who scored a career-high 20 points to go along with six rebounds. McGibbon scored 12, McCormick 11, and Sabino 10. Sabino also grabbed six rebounds. Freshman Erin Morton (Norway, Maine) had six points and four assists.
Wentworth is at Gordon on Tuesday.
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