Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior captain Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) tallied 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists to propel the Nichols College women's basketball team to a 77-55 win in the season-opener for both schools Friday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Junior Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) added 17 points and seven rebounds in her first game as a Bison to help them win their opener for the second-straight season and the third time in four seasons. Senior captain Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) chipped in with six points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Badgers (0-1) were paced by sophomore Brittany Robertson (Burlington, Vt.), who scored 11 of her team-high 14 points in the first half. Junior Eliannie Sola (New Britain, Conn.) added 11 points for Johnson State, which knocked down eight of its 24 three-point field goal attempts (33.3 pct.).

Nichols raced out to a 21-10 nine minutes in behind eight points from Spirka and four each from Litwinko and classmate Sarah Whitestone (Dalton, Mass.). A three-point play by freshman Julia Zawacki (Waterford, Conn.) with 6:43 remaining in the opening half pushed the Bison lead to 13 points (30-17), and after the Badgers climbed to within six, closed the half with baskets by sophomore Jessica Kelliher (Marshfield, Mass.) and junior captain Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.).

The Bison shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and connected on four of their nine three-pointers (44.4 pct.). Johnson State, meanwhile, shot at a 42.4 percent clip but committed 11 turnovers. Nichols held a double-digit lead throughout the second half until a triple by Sola with 10:51 on the clock got Johnson State to within eight.

Nichols responded with baskets from Spirka, Litwinko, and junior Carly Turpel (Berkley, Mass.) to stretch its lead to 18 with five minutes remaining, and a three-pointer from sophomore Chelsey Mahoney (Dracut, Mass.) swelled the lead to 22 points with under a minute to go.

"We played well. We received great energy from the bench and were able to play many of our kids," said Nichols second-year head coach Alice Mullen. "We turned the ball over quite a bit, but it's early in the season. We'll correct those mistakes. Devin played a very nice game for us, missing a triple-double by one assist, and we got a lot of good minutes from Amber."

Whitestone finished her evening with eight points off the bench while Mahoney dropped in seven points and handed out a pair of assists. Nichols held a 20-4 edge in fast-break points and recorded assists on two-thirds of its field goals (20-of-30). Defensively, the Bison held the Badgers to just 31 percent shooting in the second half (9-of-29) and forced 22 turnovers.

Nichols returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Norwich at 6:00 p.m. The Badgers play at Bridgewater State next Friday, November 22.