Women's Basketball Holds Off Nichols in 67-60 Win

PAXTON, Mass.—The Anna Maria College women's basketball team held off a second-half Bison rally to claim a 67-60 win over Nichols College on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.

The win marked the second-straight for the AMCATS, who improve to 3-1, while the loss drops the Bison to 0-3.

THE SERIES

The win marks just the third win in the series for Anna Maria against Nichols, dating back to the 2003-04 season. All three AMCAT victories have come in the last five seasons.  

AMCAT LEADERS

Anna Maria was paced by sophomore Kristina Russo (South Windsor, Conn.) who scored a game-high 19 points. She shot 4-for-11 from the floor but scored 10 of her points and the free-throw line. Junior Deja Taitt (Cambia Heights, N.Y.) added 16 points on a 6-for-11 effort, while senior Christina Gauvin (Dudley, Mass.) scored 11 points.  

NICHOLS LEADERS

Sophomore Jessica Packard (Dudley, Mass.) scored a team-leading 13 points for the Bison, while four different players finished with nine points: Allison Cerrato (Rockland, Mass.), Brooke Packard (Dudley, Mass.), Alexandra Hanlon (Bolton, Conn.) and Alexandra Morrow (Townshend, Vt.). Cerrato also finished with a game-high 11 points.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Anna Maria controlled the scoreboard from the opening tip and used a majority of the first half to build up to a 22-point lead following a pair of free-throws by Russo at the 3:59 mark of the second quarter. The Bison came alive at that moment, holding the AMCATS scoreless for the remainder of the quarter while scoring 11 points of their own to cut Anna Maria's lead to 11, 25-24, entering halftime. 

The Bison hit back-to-back layups to open the third quarter, cutting their deficit to single-digits. The Bison remained within a seven-point margin for a majority of the frame, until a three-point basket by Taitt at the 1:21 mark gave the AMCATS another double-digit lead. A pair of free-throws by Russo sent the AMCATS into the fourth quarter with a 12-point lead.

Nichols would have another strong stretch to open the final stanza, using a 9-2 run to cut Anna Maria's lead to five points, 56-51, with just over seven minutes still to play. Anna Maria answered with a 7-0 run on layups by Gauvin and Russo and a three-pointer by Nicole Mareiro (Acushnet, Mass.) to open up another 12-point gap.

Nichols would come within six points once more but sent Anna Maria to the line three times in the final minute, allowing the AMCATS to take the seven-point victory on free-throws.

FINAL COMPARISONS

Nichols held advantages in most scoring categories, holding a 34-27 advantage in points in the paint and a 29-11 edge bench points. Anna Maria took advantage of Nichols' 27 turnovers in order to claim a 26-11 advantage in points-off-turnovers.

The Bison shot 40.4 percent from the floor (23-57), and hit just two-of-12 three-point range (16.2 percent). The AMCATS shot 36.2 percent from the floor (21-58), but finished 5-for-17 from behind the arc.

WHAT'S NEXT

Anna Maria continues their five-game homestand on Tuesday in a 4:00 p.m. matinee against Clark University.