WATERVILLE, Maine—The Thomas College women's basketball team opened the 2016 portion of its schedule with a 53-42 loss to Gordon College on Saturday afternoon at Larry Mahaney Gymnasium. The Fighting Scots snapped a six-game losing streak to get their fourth win of the season.
Both teams struggled offensively out of the gate as Gordon (4-6) held just a 4-3 lead at the midpoint of the first quarter. Back-to-back jumpers by Kelly Macomber (West Gardiner, Maine) gave Thomas (2-7) the lead at 7-4 with three minutes to play, but the Fighting Scots rattled off seven straight points -- including five from the charity stripe -- to take a 11-7 lead at the quarter break.
Senior forward Katie McAllister (Pittston, Maine) opened the scoring the second quarter with a jumper at the 8:59 mark, cutting the lead to 11-9. Gordon responded with five straight points on a jumper by Kristen Smith and a three-pointer by Mariel Barner before sophomore Jordan Agger-Barnes (Wells, Maine) stopped the run with a jumper. Gordon's Olivia Stark and Thomas' Ashleigh Gagne (Waterville, Maine) traded three-pointers at the midpoint of the quarter to keep lead at five points at 19-14. A made layup by Sophie Linnell gave Gordon a seven-point lead with 2:27 to play in the half, but baskets by Tess McClenahan (Salmon, Idaho) and Agger-Barnes down the stretch cut into the Gordon advantage and the Terriers trailed 21-18 as the teams headed to the locker room.
The Fighting Scots took control of the game in the third quarter. After an Agger-Barnes layup with 6:30 remaining made the score 27-24, Gordon closed out the quarter on a 17-4 run to lead 44-28 after three.
Gordon pushed the lead to 17 points on a pair of occasions in the fourth quarter, but Thomas ended the game on an 8-2 run to set the final margin at 11 points.
McAllister led all players in scoring with 13 points. Agger-Barnes added 10 points and seven rebounds but was hampered by a game-high eight turnovers, while Macomber scored eight points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field.
Gordon was led by Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) and Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) with 10 points apiece while Mariel Barner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) added nine points and four assists. Linnell also pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to nab her first double-double since a win over Mount Ida in November.
The Fighting Scots held a 36-28 advantage on the boards and had five three-pointers to Thomas' one. Gordon was also 14-of-16 from the free-throw line while Thomas was just 5-of-9.
The Terriers return to North Atlantic Conference play at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday when they travel to Farmington for a matchup with rival UMaine-Farmington. The Fighting Scots will host nationally ranked UNE at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the back half of a Commonwealth Coast Conference doubleheader.
Release courtesy of Thomas Sports Info
