BOSTON, Mass. – Sophomore Amy Assad (Millis, Mass.) scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help pace the Nichols College women's basketball team to a 68-58, overtime victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference play Saturday afternoon.
With the win the Bison snap a 10-game losing streak and improve to 2-14 overall and 2-8 in league play. The Leopards fall to 2-15 (0-10).
Nichols took an early lead, scoring the first four points of the contest, however Wentworth used a 7-0 run – capped off by a freshman Sam McGibbon (Pembroke, Mass.) three pointer – to give the Leopards a 7-6 lead at the midway point of the quarter. The Bison came back to tie the game at 8-all late in the quarter on a pair of Assad free throws, and, after junior Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) gave the Leopards the lead back, Nichols closed out the quarter by scoring the last five points to make it 13-10.
McGibbon tied the game at 13-all with a three pointer early in the second quarter and would give Wentworth a 17-16 lead with another three just over a minute later. Three lead changes later, an Assad three gave the visitors a 20-18 lead and the Bison would lead, 25-20, on freshman Rebecca Cleary's (Milford, Mass.) two free throws. The Leopards would hold the Bison scoreless for the next 3:08, tying the game at 25-all on a pair of junior Courtney McCormick (Hanson, Mass.) free throws with 1:08 seconds left. Assad hit two free throws with 11 seconds left to give Nichols a 27-25 halftime lead.
Nichols led by as many as seven on four occasions in the third quarter before a senior Brittany Donovan (Newport, R.I.) basket gave the Bison their largest lead, 41-32, with 4:35 left in the quarter. Wentworth chipped away at the lead and trailed by four after three quarters as sophomore Michelle McCloskey (Madison, Conn.) scored five straight points.
The fourth quarter saw Wentworth trim the lead to one on a pair of occasions as McGibbon buried a three with 8:01 left and McCormick hit one of two free throws with 5:27 left. A layup by Assad made it 54-49 with 3:20 left, however Wentworth began to chip away. Senior Kellie Messer hit one of two free throws on the Leopards' next possession, and, after nearly two minutes of neither team scoring, McCormick hit two free throws to make it 54-52.
A missed basket by Assad gave Wentworth the ball back with 17 seconds left and the Leopards called a timeout with 11 ticks to go. With 2.1 seconds left Sabino evened the score at 54-all, sending the game into overtime.
The extra frame was all Nichols as the Bison used a 10-2 run to open the period and took a 64-56 lead on an Assad layup with 47 seconds left.
Donovan added 12 points and eight rebounds in the win while senior Taylor Daniels (Dudley, Mass.) had seven points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
McGibbon poured in a career-high 18 points with all six of her field goals coming from long range. She also had seven rebounds and four steals. McCloskey added 11 points and six rebounds, while Sabino and McCormick had nine points apiece.
Both teams are in action on Wednesday as Wentworth is at the University of New England and Nichols is at Roger Williams.
