MILTON, Mass. - The Curry College women's basketball team recorded its fourth straight win as they defeated visiting Nichols College at the Katz Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 71-62. The win moves the Colonels to 9-12 overall and a 7-7 mark in the CCC. The Bison fall to 2-19 on the season and 2-12 in league play.
Nichols jumped on the scoreboard early as they grabbed an 8-2 lead with 4:12 to go in the first quarter after a made jump shot by Anna McDaniel (Taunton, Mass.). Curry cut the deficit to just one at 8-7 following a layup by Molly Plunkett (Quincy, Mass.) and a three pointer by Paige Senatore (Ayer, Mass.)
The Colonels ended the first stanza of play with a jump shot by Nicole Rice (Woburn Mass.) to extend their lead to three, 11-8 at the end of the first quarter of play.
Following a three by Taylor Daniels (Dudley, Mass.) to open the scoring for the Bison in the second, the Colonels would go on a 7-0 run to take an 18-11 lead with 8:05 remaining in the half, capped off by a three from Senatore.
The Bison began to close the gap, pulling to within five points with 4:09 to go in the first half after a layup by Allison Cerrato made the score 23-18.
Right before the end of the first half Nichols would go on a 6-0 run over the final 2:14 to enter the first half intermission with the contest tied at 26.
Curry would come out of the locker room and would build a seven point lead with 7:19 remaining on two made free throws from Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.) to make the score 35-28. The Colonel lead would reach 10 at the 5:40 mark in the third when Senatore converted a layup. Irwin would extend it to 12 after two free throws.
The lead would remain in Curry's hands for the rest of the third quarter as the lead would balloon to 19 just before the end of the stanza on a layup by Senatore.
In the fourth quarter the Colonels' lead would reach 20 following a three to make the score 61-41. The Bison would cut that deficit in half with 2:53 remaining in regulation on a layup by Brittany Donovan (Newport, R.I.).
Nichols would get as close as nine before the end of the contest. With just 33 seconds to go, Daniels hit a three to make the score 71-62, which would end up being the final score.
Irwin led Curry with a team-high 19 points on 4-for-14 shooting and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. The sophomore also added seven rebounds, five assists and eight steals in the victory. Senatore posted a career-high 18 points on the afternoon. She shot 6-for-10 from the field and 3-for-5 from three. Plunkett added 11 points while Rice registered a double-double of 10 points and 15 rebounds to close out the Colonels in double figures. Rice also added five blocks.
Daniels posted a game-high 22 points on 9-for-21 shooting for the Bison. Donovan chipped in 11 for the visitors while Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.) and McDaniel pitched in nine points apiece.
The Bison shot 36.5% for the game compared to 33.3% for the Colonels. Curry had the edge in three point percentage and knocked down 21-of-26 free throws to register an 80.8 percentage. The Colonels had the edge on the glass (45-44) while the home team also won the turnover battle, committing four less than Nichols. 24 turnovers by the Bison turned into 26 points for Curry.
Curry returns to the court on Wednesday as the team heads to the University of New England for a 7:30 tip. Nichols will next play Wednesday and will welcome in Endicott for a 5:30 contest.
