BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) and freshman Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) scored 16 points apiece to help the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's basketball team to a 70-58 win over Nichols in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at Tansey Gymnasium.
Nichols scored four of the game's first sox points and eventually held a 15-7 lead with just over 11 minutes left in the first half. Senior Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.) scored eight points during the start, while classmate Natalie Wilson (Bedford, N.H.) had six of her own.
A 3-pointer by senior Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) cut the lead to five before senior Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.) hit a three of her own to push the lead back to eight (18-10) with 8:55 left in the half.
Wentworth responded by outscoring the Bison, 15-3, for the remainder of the half, with Biggar scoring six of her team's points. The Leopards held Nichols to 21.2 percent shooting from the floor over the first 20:00.
Zophin opened the second half with a basket before Camara drained a three to push the lead to five. Wilson scored the Bison's next four points, making it a 28-27 game with 17:17 left. The Leopards scored five straight points to up the lead to six, and eventually nine, before Zophin hit a jumper with 11:14 left, cutting the lead to 42-35.
From there the Black & Gold broke the game open, using a 17-0 run to take a 59-35 lead on a basket by Biggar with 4:15 left. During the run, freshman Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.), Camara, and junior Ashley Stowe (Voluntown, Conn.) each had five points.
The Leopards would lead by as many as 26 with under two minutes left before Nichols used a 16-2 run – with nine points coming from Zophin – to trim the final margin to a dozen.
Biggar was 7-for-11 from the floor, while Camara had seven rebounds and two steals. Stowe finished with 12 of her 14 points in the second half, junior Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) had seven points, a team-high 11 rebounds, and four steals, and McLaughlin had five points and seven assists.
Zophin notched her 12th double-double of the season as she finished with 23 points (on 8-for-12 shooting) and hauled down 19 rebounds. Wilson added 12 points and three rebounds in the loss.
With the win Wentworth improves to 10-11 overall and 5-9 in CCC play. The Leopards are at Salve Regina on Wednesday. Nichols dropped its fourth straight to stand at 6-14 (3-11). The Bison step out of league play on Monday, traveling to Connecticut College.
