WENHAM, Mass.—A double-double from freshman Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) wasn't enough to notch Gordon's first Commonwealth Coast Conference victory of the season, as Nichols claimed a 55-50 win. The Bison's Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) scored 15 points to lead all scorers and Nichols was able to hold off a late Gordon rally at the Bennett Center on Tuesday night.
Nichols led cover to cover in the contest, which was aided by opening the game with a 13-3 run. Gordon did not have an answer for Wegrzynek in the early going, as the senior forward went off for six points over the course of the opening run. On the other end, Gordon struggled to find open shots against Nichols' lengthy defenders and the offense was carried by the Scots' ability of getting to the free throw line.
Over the next six minutes, Gordon's Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) went on a little scoring stretch of her own. Smith outscored the entire Nichols team during the run and closed the Bison lead to four at 17-13, capped off by a triple from the extended elbow. Mariel Barner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) closed the gap to three points just a few minutes later with a three in the right corner at 20-17.
Gordon and Nichols traded baskets back and forth until the final two minutes. After the Scots cut the Bison lead to two, Nichols ended the half on a 6-0 run to carry all of the momentum into the locker room.
Smith led all scorers at the intermission with 10 points on 3-of-7 shooting. Nichols shot much better from the field in the first half at 41.2-percent, compared to only 30-percent for the Scots. The Bison also held the early rebounding advantages, 23-18.
True to the narrative of the first half, Nichols put together a solid first 10 minutes of the second half to open a lead of as much as 13 points. Linnell and Brooke Kratche (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) carried the Scots offense in the second half with eight and nine points respectively. Gordon was eventually able to cut Nichols' advantage to four in the closing minute, but they could never get within a one-possession deficit.
After a scoring burst in the opening minutes, Wegrzynek had a quiet final 13 minutes of the first half. She exploded with nine points in the second half on 3-of-5 shooting and finished with 15 total points. The forward also had a game-high three steals for the Bison. The rest of Nichols' offense was spread throughout the roster with four other player scoring at least six points. Reserve forward Allison Cerrato led the team with nine boards.
Smith led the Scots with 13 points, doing much of her damage at the charity stripe. Kratche and Linnell both added 11 points, while Barner turned in nine. Linnell continued her dominance on the backboard by cleaning up 14 rebounds, her fifth double-digit rebound performance of the season.
Nichols outrebounded Gordon 41-36 and put up a solid 40.7 percentage from the floor. The Fighting Scots brought up their percentage in the second half, but still finished below the Bison at 35.4-percent.
The Bison improve to 3-3 on the season and 1-2 in the CCC, while Gordon falls to 2-6 overall and 0-3 in the CCC. The Fighting Scots have now lost five games in a row.
Nichols returns to non-conference play for a game at Mitchell on Thursday, while Gordon travels to Boston for a game against Lasell on Saturday afternoon a 2:00 p.m.
