Box Score
WENHAM, Mass.—The Gordon Women's Basketball team fell behind early and could not claw all the way back in a 55-41 loss to visiting Nichols. The Scots closed the gap to a two-possession game with two minutes remaining in the contest, but the Bison iced the game with made free throws down the stretch to notch their fourth Commonwealth Coast Conference victory.
 
The Bison built an early 7-0 lead over the first four minutes of the game thanks to the offensive rebounding prowess of Nichols' Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) The junior forward was all over the floor in the first half—grabbing nine rebounds in the period—and sparked the Bison to open a hefty lead.
 
Nichols' lead ballooned to 13-3 halfway through the first half, as Gordon struggled to find their touch from the floor. Clancey Adams (Simsbury, Conn.) hit a three from the corner on a skip pass from Brooke Kratche (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) was the only basket for the Scots in the first 10 minutes of the game.
 
Fredi Nielsen picked up two fouls in the game's opening two minutes and remained out for the remainder of the half. The early adjustment to not having their top rebounder and insider presence took a toll on the Scots' opening momentum.
 
However, Lauren Kranyak (Locust Grove, Va.) spurred the Scots to a 6-0 run with a put-back from an offensive rebound at the 7:59 mark. A minute later, Kratche went coast-to-coast, blowing past her defender for the easy layup on the other end. Olivia Vetere (Mahopac, N.Y.) capped the run with a steal and fast-break layup to force Nichols into a timeout situation.
 
Nichols led 19-14 with only a few ticks on the clock when Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) hit a three in front of the Gordon bench to make it a 22-14 game at halftime.
 
The Bison opened the second half with a 7-0 run to gain their largest lead of the game at 15 points. After a quiet start to the game, Pelletier hit another three right out of gates and Litwinko answer with a triple of her own two minutes later.
 
A large hole seemed to kick start the Scots' offense, as Gordon countered with a 10-0 run of its own. Mariel Barner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and Skylar Bareford (Stonington, Conn.) hit back-to-back threes before Nielsen ended the streak with two made shots at the charity stripe.
 
The Bison and Scots traded baskets back and forth until a three-point play by Kratche at 11:41 in the second half. Kratche picked the pocket of Sarah Whitestone (Dalton, Mass.) and took the ball to the rim for a bucket, plus the foul. The junior guard converted on the free-throw attempt to cut Nichols' lead to 33-29.
 
Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) went on a 7-0 by herself to turn the Bison lead back to double-digits with six minutes to play.
Gordon chipped away at the deficit and got back within four points on a Kratche layup with two minutes remaining. However, the Bison made their final nine free-throw attempts in the closing minute to push their lead from four to 14, for a final 55-41 score.
 
Pelletier led the Bison with 14 points at the point, all of them coming from behind the arch or at the free-throw line. She also added five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Litwinko slowed down in the second half, but she finished with a double-double at 12 points and 11 rebounds. Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) pitched in 10 boards as well.
 
Kratche led all scorers with 15 points and she also brought down 10 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. Nielsen played all 20 minutes of the second half, after being held without a shot or an assist in the first half due to foul trouble. The freshman forward had eight points and seven rebounds in the final period.
 
Nichols plays at Roger Williams Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Fighting Scots play at host Endicott Wednesday at 5:30 p.m in Beverly.