DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Brooke Packard (Dudley, Mass.) scored 18 points to help the Nichols College women's basketball team earn a 71-54 win over Wentworth Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
With the win the Bison pick up their first victory of the season, improving to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in league play while the Leopards slip to 1-6 (0-2).
Sophomore Amy Assad (Millis, Mass.) grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and also notched eight points while senior Brittany Donovan (Newport, R.I.) went for six points, 11 rebounds, and two steals. The Bison shot 49 percent in the second half (16-of-33) and held a 49-39 edge on the glass in the contest.
Junior Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) led the Leopards with a career-high 20 points to go along with 10 rebounds in 35 minutes of action. Senior Kellie Messer (Hollis, N.H.) was one of three players to score six points while grabbing eight rebounds. Junior Courtney McCormick (Hanson, Mass.) and freshman Sam McGibbon (Pembroke, Mass.) also scored six points for the Black & Gold.
The Leopards led 14-11 after one behind six points from McCormick. Nichols, meanwhile, made four of their first 17 shots. Wentworth extended its lead to five (35-30) at halftime as Sabino scored six points in the stanza while Daniels went 4-of-5 from the field and scored all 10 of her first-half points in the second quarter.
Nichols rallied to take a 49-47 lead after three behind six points from junior Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.) and five from Packard in the third. Donovan scored all six of her points in the fourth quarter and Packard chipped in with six while, defensively, the Bison held the Leopards to 1-of-11 shooting (nine percent) and a total of seven points over the final 10 minutes.
Daniels closed the afternoon with 14 points, five rebounds, two dimes and two steals. Freshman Mekaela Fithian-Giantonio (Plainville, Conn.) knocked down for of her five field goal attempts and finished with 10 points.
Wentworth is at Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday.
