Box Score
DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) scored a team-high 16 points in Nichols College's 63-47 loss to Salve Regina University in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action Tuesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Classmate Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) recorded her first collegiate double-double with 11 points and 10 boards as the Bison fell to 6-17 (3-12 CCC) with the loss. Freshman Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) led all scorers with 25 points for the Seahawks, who won their fourth-straight to improve to 14-9 (11-5).

The two schools combined to miss the first 10 shots of the game and 16 of the first 18 shots overall. With the score tied at four less than six minutes into the opening stanza, the Seahawks went on a 10-0 run behind four points from senior Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) to open up a 14-4 lead. Salve Regina closed the half on 9-0 run to take a 30-14 lead to the locker room. Harden led all scorers with 15 while Pelletier paced the Bison with six.

The Bison opened the second half on a 16-7 run to climb to within seven points at 37-30. Spirka ignited the run with six points while senior Natalie Wilson (New Bedford, N.H.) chipped in with four points. Salve Regina called timeout and responded with a 7-0 run to push its lead back to 14 with 11:06 remaining. Five-straight points from Pelletier cut the Seahawks deficit to nine points before a jumper from sophomore Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) gave SRU a permanent double-digit lead.

Sophomore Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) was the third Seahawk in double-figures with 13 points to go along with seven rebounds in 38 minutes. Birrell, meanwhile, capped her night with seven points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals. The Seahawks outrebounded the Bison 47-34 and made 50 percent of their shots behind the arc (6-of-12).

Wilson finished with six points and five rebounds for Nichols, which overcame a sluggish start to shoot 39 percent for the game – including 48 percent in the second half.

The Bison close out the home portion of the regular season schedule with a 5:30 p.m. contest against the Nor'easters of the University of New England Thursday. The Seahawks head to Wenham, Mass. for a 5:30 p.m. contest with Gordon on Thursday.