MILTON, Mass. – Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.) and Molly Plunkett (Quincy, Mass.) combined for 40 points and 13 rebounds as the Curry College women's basketball team rolled past visiting Nichols College on Tuesday night at the Katz Gymnasium. The win pushes the Colonels to 8-5 overall with a 4-2 mark in the Commonwealth Coast Conference. The loss drops the Bison to 3-8 overall and 1-4 in league action.

With the contest tied at four in the early going, Curry rattled five straight points after a jump shot from Nicole Rice (Woburn, Mass.) and a three from Molly Plunkett. Nichols pulled to within three before the end of the stanza after two made free throws from Jessica Larsh (Bolton, Conn.) to make the score 13-10. With six seconds remaining in the stanza, Irwin rushed up the court and drained a shot just over the half court line to put the score at 16-10 in favor of the Colonels after one.

Curry came out firing in the second quarter, scoring 13 straight points to go up 19, 29-10 with 2:48 to go in the half. The run was halted with a Brittany Donovan (Newport, R.I.) free throw. The Colonels pushed the lead to as many as 25 before the end of the half as Curry entered the intermission with a 39-17 lead.

Nichols came out of the break with five straight points, but that run would be answered with a 17-2 spurt by Curry over the final 9:02 of the quarter to put the home squad up by 28 after three, 56-24.

The Colonels continued to stretch the lead in the final quarter, as it would reach 32 before the final score was decided by 26, 64-38.

Irwin led Curry with 21 points, six rebounds, four assists, and four steals in 31 minutes. Plunkett joined Irwin in double figures, pouring in 19 points on 6-for-15 shooting from the field. The junior added seven rebounds, one assist, two steals, and a block in the victory. Rice turned in a solid performance of eight points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Larsh paced Nichols with 12 points on 3-for-7 shooting. Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.) and Brooke Packard (Dudley, Mass.) chipped in six points apiece while Donovan was the leading scorer off the bench with five points in 12 minutes of action.

Curry will next play at Western New England University on Thursday, January 11 at 7:30 p.m. Nichols returns home on Thursday, January 11 where they will welcome in Salve Regina University for a 5:30 p.m. conference contest.