DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) recorded a double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 14 rebounds to help pace the Wentworth Institute of Technology women's basketball team to a 45-41 win over Nichols in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Leopards win back-to-back contests for the first time all season and pick up their first road win of the year, improving to 7-18 overall and finishes CCC play with a 5-13 record. Wentworth, the number eight seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament, will head to top-seeded University of New England on Tuesday night for a quarterfinal round contest. This marks the third straight season the two teams will meet in the quarterfinals. The Bison see their season end with a 6-19 (3-15) record.
The Leopards jumped out to a 9-2 lead with junior Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) scoring four points and freshman Riselly Deoleo (Manchester, N.H.) adding three. After Nichols got a freshman Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.) basket to cut the lead to five, Wentworth scored the next six points and took a 17-6 lead on a freshman Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) basket with 8:28 left.
Nichols cut the lead to five with 3:27 left before the Leopards got a Sabino jumper and a pair of free throws from Deoleo and Camara to take an 11-point lead with 1:02 left. Senior Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) hit two free throws with 15 seconds left to make it a 24-15 game at the break.
A Camara three-pointer with 18:17 left gave Wentworth a 30-20 lead, and, after the Bison cut it to 10 on the next possession, neither team would score for the next 3:49 when Cerrato made it an eight-point contest. Roger gave the visitors a double-digit lead with 12:27 left before the hosts outscored Wentworth 8-0 over the next 4:52 to cut the deficit to two. Camara would bury a three and Rogers would convert a pair of jumpers to push the lead to nine with 5:59 to play.
The Bison pulled within three on a pair of senior Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) free throws with 1:03 left and got the ball back after a Leopard turnover. However, Nichols turned the ball over out of a time out and Camara sealed the win with one of two free throws with 11 ticks remaining.
Rogers added 11 points, eight rebounds, and three steals in the win, while Deoleo had nine points, nine rebounds, and three assists. Sabino finished with eight points off the bench.
Wegrzynek led the Bison with 10 points to go along with eight rebounds and four assists. Litwinko had seven points, 12 rebounds, and three steals.
