Dudley Mass. – The Bison of Nichols College came back from a 14-point deficit and outlasted the Wentworth women's basketball team 69-92 in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Wednesday evening.

RECORDS

• Wentworth (4-4, 0-2 CCC)
• Nichols (2-5, 1-0 CCC)

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Points Leaders: Lyric Campbell (11), Molley Duclos (11)
• Rebounds Leaders: Erin Morton (11), Molley Duclos (10)
• Assists Leader: Erin Morton (7)
• Blocks Leader: Molley Duclos (3)
  
  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Leopards came flying out of the gates to open the league tilt and blew the doors off the Bison with a 10-3 run over the first five minutes. Junior Molley Duclos (Greenfield, Mass.) scored seven points to give the Leopards its first hefty lead, and used six points from freshman Abriana Busbey (Palmer, Alaska) to turn a 12-4 run to end the quarter. After the first quarter, Wentworth owned a 21-7 lead thanks to seven points from Duclos and six from Busbey while shooting 41.1% from the floor.
• Roles reversed in the second frame, as Nichols answered the deep cut with a 17-6 run to open the quarter and pulled within a single possession after a deep bucket from Isabella Nerney. The Bison would score the final eight of 14 points to close the quarter, as three points apiece from senior Maya Spence (Georgetown, Mass.) and junior Erin Morton (Norway, Maine) preserved the Leopard lead at halftime.
• With just over two minutes expired on the game clock following the halftime break, junior Kayla Kelley (Boston, Mass.) capped a 6-2 run for the Black & Gold with a basket from downtown, giving the Leopards their largest lead of the third quarter, 38-31. However, the Bison crawled back to deadlock the contest 38-38, as Alexis Finnerty sunk two at the line on the heals of a 7-3 charge. The score would tie once more in the stanza at 46-46, before Spence and freshman Simone Barros (Woonsocket, R.I.) combined for a 5-0 run to hold a 51-46 lead heading into the final frame.
• The Bison doubled up on the visitors throughout the final ten minutes, 23-11, and stole the advantage 54-53 at the seven-minute mark for the first time in the contest. Seven lead changes later with both teams answering the other's attack, Gina Parmenter gave the Bison the lead for good on a layup with 3:18 remaining in regulation, 62-60, following three straight missed baskets from Wentworth. The Bison ended with a 7-2 run over the fading minutes of the game, as Parameter evaded a final full court press from the Leopards to send Nichols to its first league win.

NOTES

• Duclos booked the first double-double of her junior campaign
• Both teams struggled from the floor, shooting just above 30% and booked an even 52 rebounds each.
• The Bison scored 29 points off Wentworth turnovers, while the bench outscored the Leopard pine 26-19.

THE SERIES

• With the win, the Bison jump above .500 in the all-time series, 18-17, dating back to their first meeting in 1988. Nichols breaks a two-game losing skid to Wentworth, which has won the last three of five games.

NEXT

• Wentworth returns to its home court on Saturday for a tough matchup with Roger Williams at 1:00 p.m.