DUDLEY, Mass. -  The Nichols College women's basketball team extended its record winning streak to 17 games with a 78-23 win over Anna Maria College in a The Commonwealth Coast Conference game Wednesday evening. The 55-point win marks yet another program record for the Bison this season, breaking the record for margin of victory, set in a 76-25 win against Colby-Sawyer in the 1988-89 season (51 points). Nichols improves to 18-2 overall and 8-0 in TCCC play, while Anna Maria dips to 3-16 and 0-8 in conference games.

Sophomore guard Ashley Robidoux (Milford, Mass.) led the Bison with 17 first-half points, including three three-pointers, on 70% shooting from the field. She added five assists, four rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes of action. Also in double figures for Nichols, which saw every player in the lineup score at least two points, was junior forward Margaret Lilly (Ashfield, Mass.), who put up 13 points and five rebounds, and junior guard Alena Jasinski (Canton, Conn.), who added 12 points and four rebounds off the bench.

Junior forward Maggie Sielawa led the AMCATS with eight rebounds to go with five points, while freshman guard Amanda Hevy hit a pair of three-pointers for six points on the night. Sophomore guard Crystal Torres also added six points.

The Bison jumped out to a 19-point lead before the AMCATS got on the board with a Torres layup with 11:37 left in the opening half. Nichols got one back before Torres hit another jumper, making the score 21-4 in favor of the home team. The Bison then went on a 14-0 run until Sielawa sank a free throw with 6:11 left in the first half. Nichols closed the stanza on a 14-4 spree, carrying a 49-9 lead into halftime.

The Bison built their lead to 48 by the four-minute mark of the second half, after which Sielawa hit another free throw, making the score 57-10 in favor of the home team. The Bison extended their lead to 58 on a Jasinski trey with 3:44 left to play, but a fast-break layup from Emily Nugent at just over a minute left cut the lead to 56.

Nichols' Andrea Ferris (Windsor, Mass.) put in a layup on the ensuing possession, but Hevy sank a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 78-23 final.

The Bison held a 42-24 advantage off the glass, and found 41 points off of the AMCATS' 31 turnovers. The Bison gave up three points on 15 turnovers.

Nichols is back in action on Take A Kid to the Game Day on Saturday, February 7, in a 1 p.m. game against Gordon. Anna Maria travels to Wentworth for a 1 p.m. game Saturday. 

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