BOSTON, Mass. – Junior guard Hailey Rafferty (Worcester, Mass.) had a game-high 15 points to go along with seven rebounds as the Curry College women's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak with a 59-50 win over Wentworth in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Tansey Gymnasium.
With the win the Colonels improve to 9-16 overall and 7-11 in CCC play and will be the number seven seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament, traveling to second-seeded Salve Regina Tuesday night. Wentworth sees its season end with a 2-23 (2-16) mark.
The early moments of the game featured 18 of the first 21 points coming from behind the arc and saw Curry take a 17-4 lead. The Colonels upped their lead to 15 (19-4) on a junior guard Julia Scrubb (Stowe, Vt.) layup with 12:31 left in the half. The Leopards scored the next 10 points – with four points coming from sophomore forward Ashley Stowe (Voluntown, Conn.) and cut the deficit to five (19-14) with 5:17 left. Curry, which held the Leopards without a field goal over the final 5:17 of the opening frame, led, 28-17, at the break.
Curry opened the second half on a 15-4 run and took its largest lead of the game (43-21) on a layup from junior Carolyn Houston (Melrose, N.Y.) with 16:20 to play. The Leopards went on a 12-0 run – capped off by a pair of free throws from sophomore forward Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) – to cut the lead to 43-33 with 11:07 left. However, the Colonels answered with five straight points from freshman guard Kylie Beitz (Peqout Lakes, Minn.) to push the lead to 15 with 10:26 left.
Wentworth worked the lead down to eight with 6:51 left after Kerr hit two free throws, but Houston and sophomore guard Ashley Assarian (Chicopee, Mass.) hit back-to-back baskets to push the lead back to 12.
Trailing by a dozen with 3:54 left, the Leopards scored the next six points, with four coming from Kerr, to cut the lead in half with 1:40 left. That would be as close as the hosts would come as Curry would hit five of six free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
Assarian added 13 points, while Houston chipped in with 11 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Scrubb added nine rebounds.
Kerr recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds to go along with five assists and seven steals. Junior guard Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) finished with 13 points and eight rebounds.
