WENHAM, Mass. – The Wentworth women's basketball team used an 8-0 run early in the contest to erase a 2-0 deficit and never looked back as the Leopards cruised past Gordon, 58-37, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Leopards improve to 6-3 overall and 2-1 in CCC play. The 6-3 start is Wentworth's best since the 2007-08 squad began with a 7-2 mark and triples the total number of wins achieved by last year's team that finished 2-23.
After Gordon junior Abby Bandi (Thornton, N.H.) hit a pair of free throws to give the Fighting Scots a 2-0 lead 37 seconds into the contest, Wentworth scored the next eight points – with six coming from junior Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) – to lead, 8-2, with 16:54 left.
The Fighting Scots cut the lead in half, thanks to three free throws from sophomore Brooke Kratche (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), but the Leopards responded by scoring the next nine points and increased their lead to 17-5 on a senior Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) free throw. During the run freshman Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine had four points, while Biggar added three.
Gordon would score five of the next six points before freshman Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) buried a 3-pointer which began a 10-0 run that would give the Leopards their largest lead of the half (28-10) with 4:21 left. The lead was matched after a Rogers jumper with 2:42 left and the Black & Gold led, 30-16, at the break. Through the first 20:00 Wentworth held Gordon to just 10 percent shooting (2-for-20) from the floor and scored 13 points off of 11 turnovers.
Wentworth would up its lead to 21 on a 3-pointer from Kerr with 13:12 left in the contest and would use a 10-2 run late to take its largest lead (26) with 1:34 remaining. The Leopards scored half (14) of their second-half points off of 11 Fighting Scot turnovers. In addition to holding the hosts to 20 percent shooting from the floor, Wentworth scored 27 points off of 22 Gordon miscues.
Kerr had a game-high 19 points (on 7-for-13 shooting from the floor) to go along with seven rebounds and three steals. Rogers and senior Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) added eight points apiece, while Biggar and junior Ashley Stowe (Voluntown, Conn.) chipped in with seven points each.
Kratche recorded a double-double for Gordon, as she scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with three steals. Junior Skylar Bareford (Stonington, Conn.) had eight points and three steals in the loss.
The game featured a pair of sisters squaring off against each other in Biggar and her younger sibling Abagail, who had four points for Gordon.
Winners of two straight Wentworth is idle until hosting Rochester Institute of Technology on Thursday, January 3, at 2:00 p.m. Gordon dropped its sixth straight to fall to 2-6 (0-3) and is at MIT on December 29.
