DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College women's basketball team was defeated by Curry College, 52-41, on Tuesday night in a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup at the Nichols Athletic Center in Dudley, Mass.

 The Bison fall to 3-16 overall and 1-11 in the CCC, while Curry moves to 11-9 and 7-6 in league games.

Junior Mekaela Fithian-Giantonio led the Bison with 13 points, four rebounds, two assists, and three steals, while senior Allison Cerrato registered a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds to go with four steals. Freshman Shannon St. Lawrence hauled in a game and career-high 13 rebounds to go with seven points, with classmate Isabella Nerney registering six points and four assists. Junior Callie Andrews and freshman Desiree Rivera each pulled down seven rebounds in the setback.

 Curry was led by 11 points and four rebounds off the bench from freshman Maeve Foley. Junior Molly Plunkett joined her in double-figures with 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists, and two steals, while classmate Emily Irwin had an all-around game with seven points, four rebounds, eight assists, and nine steals. Freshman Gina Coote rounded out the top scorers for the Colonels with nine points, five rebounds, and four assists.

 A Cerrato layup at the 7:08 mark of the opening quarter made it a 5-4 deficit for the Bison, but the Colonels answered with eight-straight points to take a 13-4 lead with 2:06 remaining. A quick 6-0 spurt by the Bison pulled Nichols back to 13-10, and Curry would take a 17-10 advantage into the second quarter.

 The Bison continued to chip away at the Curry lead, and a three-point play from Cerrato made it a 17-15 game with 7:48 remaining in the half. A score inside from Andrews kept it a two-point game at 19-17, but Curry responded with a 7-2 run to jump back on top 26-19 with 46 seconds to play in the period. Fithian-Giantonio canned a three at the top of the key for the final bucket of the half to make it a 26-22 deficit at the break.

 After Curry opened the second half with back-to-back jumpers from senior Nicole Rice and Plunkett, Fithian-Giantonio knocked down a pair of three-pointers to pull the Bison to within 30-28. A score inside from Cerrato nearly a minute later kept Nichols within striking distance at 32-30, and another jumper from the senior at the 5:05 mark made it a 35-32 contest. As they had done all game, the Colonels had the answer, this time using an 8-0 run to end the period and take a 43-32 lead into the final stanza.

 Curry took its largest lead of the game at 46-32 following a triple from Foley, but the Bison would not quit as a 9-0 run by the home team pulled the Bison to within 46-41 with 3:15 to play. Unfortunately for Nichols, the Colonels would score the final six points of the game to pull away for the 52-41 victory.

 Both teams struggled from the field in the contest as the two squads combined to shoot 28.2% (33-of-117) in the game. Nichols ended the game shooting 25.4% (15-of-59) from the floor, including 14.8% (4-of-27) from beyond the arc while hitting all seven of their free throws. Curry was only slightly better shooting at a 31% (18-of-58) clip, while connecting on 15.8% (3-of-19) of its threes and 86.7% (13-of-15) of its free throws. Nichols won the battle on the glass, 48-37, but committed 29 turnovers, while the Colonels had 18 missteps on the night.

Nichols will try to right the ship on Thursday night when they travel to the University of New England for a 6:00 p.m. tip off. Curry returns home for a matchup with Salve Regina on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.

(Game Recap Courtesy of Nichols College Sports Information)