MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College women's basketball team picked up its first win of 2018 on Saturday afternoon, topping Roger Williams University by a 49-47 final in Commonwealth Coast Conference play at the Katz Gymnasium.
The Colonels (7-5 overall, 3-2 CCC) used a strong first half to lead by six at the break, 25-19. Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.) poured a game-high 24 points to lead Curry while Gina Coote (Dedham, Mass.) added a quality stat line of eight points and 11 rebounds in 37 minutes of action.
The Hawks (8-3 overall, 2-2 CCC) shot 34 percent for the game and got a solid outing from Anna Walther (Northampton, Mass.), who finished with a team-high 16 points to go along with four rebounds. Mariah Nicholas (Acushnet, Mass.) recorded a near double-double of nine points and nine rebounds while Sam Leone (Ashland, Mass.) was the leading scorer off the bench with eight points in 20 minutes.
Molly Plunkett (Quincy, Mass.) drained the first basket of the game to put Curry on top in the opening minute and Roger Williams was unable to find their flow offensively. A free throw by Walther was the final basket for the Hawks for nearly four and a half minutes. The Colonels closed the quarter on a 6-0 run but was halted when Nicholas drained a shot as time expired to cut the Curry deficit to 13-7 at the end of the first quarter.
Roger Williams came out strong in the second quarter, cutting the deficit to one with 3:29 left when Sam Mancinelli (Peabody, Mass.) knocked down two shots at the charity stripe, 17-16. The Colonels answered back with five straight points to put a six-point cushion in between the teams with 45 seconds to go in the first half. The squads traded shots from distance over the final 19 seconds of the quarter to make the score 25-19 at the halftime intermission.
In the second half, a free throw by Irwin gave Curry its largest lead of the game at 37-22 with 2:51 remaining in the third. The Colonels carried a 12-point margin into the final period but would be cut into by the Hawks in the final quarter of action.
Roger Williams outscored Curry 16-6 in the final stanza but it wasn't enough as the Colonels edged the Hawks by two at the final buzzer. With Curry up by seven with 48 seconds left in regulation, a three by Walther and two Leone free throws pulled Roger Williams to within two at 49-47. After a missed free throw by Nicole Rice (Woburn, Mass.) with seven seconds left, the Hawks would have one final shot to force overtime or grab the victory. Walther's jumper was off as the Colonels held on for the two-point victory, 49-47.
Curry will next host Nichols College on Tuesday, January 9 at 5:30 p.m. Roger Williams returns to action on the road against Salve Regina University on Tuesday, January 9 at 5:30 p.m.
