WENHAM, Mass.—Gordon Women's Basketball used a fourth-quarter run to notch its first win in the Commonwealth Coast Conference this season, a 42-39 result over visiting Wentworth. Sophomore
Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) scored six of her 12 points in the final period to help the Scots break a long drought in conference action.
Gordon struggled to contain talented senior forward Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) in the first half. Rogers scored six of Wentworth's first eight points to build up an 8-4 advantage and finished with 14 points in the opening half. The Fighting Scots only made two shots from the field in the first quarter and relied on four shots from the stripe to make it a 10-9 game after one.
Rogers quickly made it a 12-9 advantage when the Fighting Scots countered with on of their largest runs this season. Gordon went on a 7-0 streak thanks to
Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) and
Sydney Pefanis (Cumming, Ga.), allowing the Scots to grab a 16-12 lead.
Once again, Rogers led the charge back to knot the game at 18 with 1:34 on the clock.
Mariel Barner (Colorado Springs, Colo.) missed an open jumper with 10 ticks to go, but
Jenna Olson (Rutland, Vt.) got the offensive board and kicked it back out to Barner for made shot just before the buzzer.
Gordon meticulously put the offense in high gear to start the second half, erupting for a 30-21 advantage midway through the third. Unfazed, Wentworth went on a 10-0 run thanks to a perfect six-for-six mark from the free-throw line in under three minutes of play. The Leopards held the one-point lead entering the final quarter.
Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) stretched the Leopards lead to three points on Wentworth's first possession when the Scots struck for another big run. Seven straight points between Pefanis and Smith put Gordon up 39-35 with 6:36 remaining.
Wentworth closed the gap to one point on a layup by Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) with just over three to go. However, neither team could find any points for the next three minutes until Barner drained two free throws.
The Scots were able to force Rogers into a deep three pointer and run out the last two seconds.
Wentworth falls to 6-16 and 2-13 in the CCC. Gordon improves to 5-17 this season and 1-14 in conference.
For the Foes- Rogers only tallied two points after the half, but still finished with a strong effort with 16 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal.
- Camara had 10 points with most of them coming at the charity stripe.
For the Scots- Smith led the Scots with 12 points and six rebounds.
- Linnell had a bounce-back game with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
- Pefanis finished with nine and five, but also led the Scots in assists with three.
Quick Stats- The Fighting Scots broke a 22-game losing streak in the CCC. Their least win game against Wentworth at home last January.
- Gordon had its highest rebound margin of the season at plus-18. Its previous high came in a blowout of Lesley on November 20th.
- Wentworth's Rogers is 12 points away from breaking the 1,000-point plateau.
