QUINCY, Mass.—Eastern Nazarene was able to hold off a second-half rally to beat Gordon Women's basketball 51-49 at the Lahue Center on Tuesday night. The Fighting Scots trailed by as many as nine in the first half and clawed back to tie the game in the waning moments before ultimately falling to the Lions by a bucket.
 
The Scots drop their fifth consecutive game after a 3-0 start to the season and now sit a 0-3 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. Eastern Nazarene breaks a two-game losing streak and improves to 5-4 overall and 1-2 in the CCC.
 
After falling behind 6-0 over the first few minutes, Gordon began to find some offensive consistency late in the first quarter. Freshman Jamie Tafoya (Fort Collins, Colo.) brought Gordon back within a point with 1:26 to go in the first, but ENC took advantage of a turnover late in the frame to score four quick points.
 
Eastern Nazarene grew its lead back to as many as nine in the second quarter, but the two teams settled for a 28-21 game heading into the locker rooms.
 
Gordon had a different edge to them in the second half as they limited turnovers and converted more opportunities on the offensive end. The Scots outscored the Lions 15-14 in the third quarter and trailed by six with just 10 minutes to go.
 
The Fighting Scots did not allow the Lions to pull away in the fourth quarter and Tafoya was eventually able to tie the game at 47-47 with 3:10 remaining on the scoreboard.
 
Eastern Nazarene could not convert a handful of free throws over the final two minutes to keep Gordon with the comeback in its mind. Trailing 51-49 with just over a minute to go, the Scots could not convert the potential tying basket on back-to-back possessions and the buzzer sounded with a narrow loss.
 
For the Scots
 

• Tafoya and Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) continue to be the most productive players on the floor for the Scots. The freshman-sophomore duo combined for 28 of Gordon's 49 points and went 11-for-19 from the floor. Tafoya has led Gordon in scoring four times this year.
• Gordon led the Lions in most major stat categories, but ENC held a large advantage in rebounds, 48-31, which led to 22 second-chance opportunities.

 
Gordon closes out its 2015 slate on Saturday when they travel down to Hartford, Connecticut to take on NESCAC foe Trinity at 1 p.m.