WENHAM, Mass.—For the second game in a row, Gordon checked off a mark in the win column during a contest that came down to the wire. Gordon led late in regulation, but a last-second three by Nichols forced extra time where Gordon used an 11-2 run to pull off an 80-75 victory over the Bison. Gordon notches its third Commonwealth Coast Conference win of the season after going 2-16 in the league and missing the playoffs last season.
Offense came at a premium in the first quarter, especially for the home side. Gordon was able to make two buckets early on its way to a 6-0 advantage, but the Fighting Scots failed to hit a shot from the field over the final six minutes to allow the Bison back into the game. Nichols took control with the opportunity and held a 14-9 lead after 10 minutes.
Gordon stayed cold for much of the second period and Nichols obliged by stretching the lead to eight points at 21-13 when Amy Assad (Millis, Mass.) converted on a nifty pass from Taylor Daniels (Dudley, Mass.). However, with three minutes until the break Gordon came alive on the offensive end. The Fighting Scots made three straight baskets including a transition triple from Brooke Dyson (Houston, Texas) to help Gordon cut its deficit down to one.
Nichols was able to keep Gordon from reclaiming the lead and took a 30-27 edge into halftime.
The Fighting Scots were able to erase a half-worth of frustration with a 10-point blitz coming right out of the locker room. Meghan Foley (Malden, Mass.) shook off a tough first half with five quick points, including capitalizing on a foul while she was behind the three-point line.
The Bison were unfazed by the suddenly 37-30 hole and battled right back to within a point on two separate occasions with a pair of deep balls.
However, Gordon another long run to push its lead to 11 points at 50-39 with 1:31 to go in the third quarter. The Fighting Scots looked poised at keeping the double-digit lead, but Nichols was grooving over the final 90 seconds to close the game to 52-47.
Nichols was finally able to bring the game back even when Daniels drained a kick-out three off an offensive rebound and took the lead just a minute later when Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.) split two defenders for a lay in with 3:35 to go in regulation.
Gordon scored the next five points to build its lead back to three and held the ball with nine seconds when a lapse gave the ball back to the Bison. Junior guard Brooke Packard (Dudley, Mass.) nailed a three right before the buzzer to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Bison scored the first four points of the overtime period and held the four-point lead halfway through the stanza. Rookie Alisha Henderson (Oregon City, Ore.) gave the Scots two big moments off the bench with a triple and a nice layup to make it a 75-74 game in favor of Nichols. Junior Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) stole the ball on the next Nichols' possession and Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.) took advantage of space to give Gordon the lead for good.
Foley made four consecutive free throws to close out the period.
Packard led all scorers with 22 points. Cerrato and Assad both finished with double-doubles for the Bison. Daniels was also in double figures with 15 points and had a game-high seven assists.
Foley added 20 or more points for the second straight game, while picking up five rebounds and three assists. Jess Ryan (Milford, N.H.) put together another strong effort with 14 points and eight boards. Dyons and Henderson had 13 and 14 points respectively with the latter dishing out a team-high four assists. Sarah Gibbs (Elizabethtown, Pa.) had a career-high 17 rebounds to help Gordon hold a 60-39 advantage in the category.
Gordon improved to 3-1 in the conference for the first time since the late 90's.
The Fighting Scots look to keep a two-game win streak alive when they head over to Endicott on Thursday evening.
