QUINCY, Mass. – Senior Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, N.Y.) led all scorers with 18 points to help pace the Eastern Nazarene women's basketball team to a 62-44 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference play at the Lahue Center.
With the win the Lions won their second straight to improve to 4-8 overall and even their record at 3-3 in CCC play while the Leopards fall to 3-10 (1-5).
After junior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) hit a layup to even the contest at 2-all, the hosts went on a 13-2 run and took a 15-4 lead with 7:18 left on a junior Krystal Holl (Smithsburg, Md.) basket. Eastern Nazarene extended its lead to 23-8 with 47 ticks left when sophomore Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) hit two free throws.
Freshman Riselly Deoleo (Manchester, N.H.) hit a basket with a minute left to end a scoring drought of 6:05 and make it a 21-8 contest. Mata scored the Lions last four points of the half, sandwiched around a junior Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) basket to make it a 25-10 game at the break.
Deoleo scored the first four points of the second half to cut the lead to 11, however junior Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) drained a trifecta to push the lead to 14.
Holding a 13-point lead with 15:26 to play, the hosts used an 8-2 run to increase their lead to 20 with 12:30 remaining. The Leopards would close the gap to as few as 15 on four occasions, but would get no closer.
In addition to her 18 points, Vickers also had nine rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Mata and junior Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) each came off the bench to score 11 points, with Greer also grabbing 10 rebounds. Eastern Nazarene held Wentworth to 28.8 percent from the floor and had a 64-33 rebounding advantage.
Deoleo led the Leopards with 17 points to go along with six rebounds. Camara had a dozen points, and Rogers grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore Kellie Messer (Hollis, N.H.) had eight points and six rebounds.
Both teams are in action on Thursday. Wentworth hosts Western New England and Eastern Nazarene is at Salve Regina.
