Hawks Soar Over Women's Basketball

BRISTOL, R.I. (1/18/18) – Senior Mariah Nicholas (Acushnet, Mass.) scored 25 points to power the Roger Williams women's basketball team over Wentworth Institute of Technology, 75-48, in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Thursday evening inside the Campus Recreation Center.

The Hawks remain perfect at home this season, and improve to 13-3 overall and 7-2 in the conference, while the Leopards fall to 2-14 and 1-8 against league opponents.

Nicholas sunk a layup on the first play of the game, as Roger Williams ran with a 10-3 spurt to gain an early lead on the Leopards. Senior Teagan Dunn (Burlington, Conn.) added four points in the stretch, followed by a layup from sophomore teammate Gabby Jerahian (Quincy, Mass.), before Wentworth freshman Erin Morton (Norway, Maine) made her second consecutive trey to trail Roger Williams 12-6 with 6:25 to go in the first quarter. Morton again connected from behind the arc to give Wentworth all of its nine points, but the Hawks closed out the first stanza with a 22-13 lead after the first quarter.

Roger Williams kept the foot on the gas for the second quarter, scoring seven unanswered points. Sophomore Sam McGibbon (Pembroke, Mass.) drained back-to-back three-pointers in the final minutes of the first half, but a final layup from Nicholas sent the Hawks into halftime with a 45-24 advantage.

Despite an opening three-pointer from senior Rebecca Ritchie (Hanover, Mass.) to open the second half, Wentworth clawed back after the break, as a 7-0 run forced the hosts to take a timeout with 6:07 left. Morton stayed hot beyond the arc, and pulled the Leopards up 57-43 with a deep shot off the steal, before Ritchie gave the Hawks one last point before the final 10 minutes of play. The Hawks held the Leopards to just five points in the fourth quarter, all from freshman Tan'eja Drayton, (Roxbury, Mass.), scoring 17 points of their own for the 75-48 final.

Morton paced the Leopard offense with 21 points with seven rebounds and four steals, including 5-for-8 shooting from three-point territory. Drayton added seven points in the setback, while McGibbon, junior Michelle McCloskey (Madison, Conn.), and senior Haley Sabino (Topsfield, Mass.) scored six points apiece.

Nicholas added eight rebounds and four steals to her game-high 25 points, while Dunn contributed a double-double with 10 points and 11 boards. Jerahian rounded out double-digit scoring for the Hawks with 11 points overall.

Both teams return to conference action on Saturday, January 20. The Leopards travel to Salve Regina for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off, while the Hawks head to Nichols at 5:30 p.m.

For the latest on Wentworth Athletics, follow the Leopards via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Fans can also download the Wentworth Leopards "Front Row" mobile app, powered by PrestoSports, on iTunes and the Android Market.