BOSTON, Mass. – Freshman forward Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) scored 11 points while senior forward Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) scored 10 points, grabbed 17 rebounds, and dished out four assists as the Wentworth women's basketball team outscored Gordon, 27-9, in the second half to open The Commonwealth Coast Conference play with a 45-28 win at Tansey Gymnasium.
With the score tied at 2-all early in the contest, the Fighting Scots used an 8-0 run to take a 10-2 lead, keyed by a three-point play from junior guard Catey Marshall (St. Johnsbury, Vt.). The Leopards countered with an 8-0 run of their own to knot the score at 10-all on a three pointer from junior guard Becca Cowee (South Windsor, Conn.), and, after Gordon took a 12-10 lead, Cowee answered with a basket to tie the game at 12 with 9:16 left.
Gordon scored the next five points, including three from sophomore forward Kayla Pacheco (Sutton, Mass.) free throws, and led, 17-12, with 4:37 left in the contest. After Kerr drained two free throws, senior guard Sara Schwanke (Duxbury, Mass.) scored what would be Gordon's final basket of the half to up the lead to 19-14 with 3:36 left. Freshman guard Paige Newcomb (Topsfield, Mass.) and Vallone each nailed jumpers within 50 seconds of each other to cut the lead to one (19-18) at the break.
The four points at the end of the first stanza began a 12-0 run for Wentworth as the Leopards took a 26-19 lead on a Kerr basket with 12:14 left in the contest. Gordon would trim the lead to 26-24 on a Schwanke basket with 9:55 left, but the hosts would outscore the Fighting Scots 9-3 over the next 3:16 to create some distance with and eight-point lead and hit six free throws in the final 1:37 to seal the win.
Junior guard Meagan Pennock (Littleton, N.H.) added nine points, while sophomore guard Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) added eight for Wentworth, which held Gordon to 13.6 percent shooting in the second half and 22.5 percent for the game, while holding a 39-32 rebounding edge.
Freshman forward Lauren Kranyak (Locust Grove, Va.) had seven points, 13 rebounds, and four steals for the Fighting Scots, while Schwanke added six points.
With the win Wentworth climbs over .500 at 7-6 and is 1-0 in TCCC play. The Leopards are at Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday. Gordon falls to 1-11 (0-1) and hosts Anna Maria on Tuesday.
