Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – Senior captain Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) scored a team-high 12 points in Nichols College's 66-50 loss at Endicott College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action Wednesday night at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Junior captain Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals as the Bison slipped to 7-6 (2-5) on the season. Senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) scored 19 for Endicott, which moved to 10-3 (6-1 CCC.)

The first half was controlled by the Gulls as they outscored the Bison 31-15. Senior Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) scored a team-high 10 points for the Gulls. In the opening minutes after a quick jumper from sophomore Jessica Kelliher (Marshfield, Mass.), the Gulls scored nine unanswered points – including six from Crough. Spirka ended the lull by picking up a layup to make it an 11-4 game.

At the 14:09 mark, sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) earned one point from the charity stripe that led to a three-minute silence period from both sides. Endicott head coach Brittany Hutchinson called a timeout at 11:01 to get her squad on the same page, which seemed to work because, following back-to-back layups from freshman Julia Zawacki (Waterford, Conn.), Endicott reeled off seven-consecutive points with efforts from Whall and Cuddy to make it a 24-10 score at 4:54 in Endicott's favor.

In the final minutes of the first half, White converted a jumper and sank three free throws in one minute. Nichols junior Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) drained a trey at the buzzer to make it a 31-15 game at the break.

The second half was a bigger battle than the first as both sides scored 35 points apiece, led by Crough with 11 and Sprika with 10. In the opening minutes, Crough and Cuddy rallied together as Cuddy drained two jumpers from long range to match Crough's four points from the field. Spirka answered back with back-to-back three-pointers and, after a quick jumper from Kelliher, the score was 46-29 with 13:38 remaining in the half.

The blue and green pushed their lead back up to 24 after scoring nine consecutive points, but Nichols would not give up as it nabbed seven points in one minute to make it a 20-point game with seven minutes remaining. In the final 6:35 minute of play, the Bison climbed to within 14 at 1:26 but it was not enough as the Gulls closed out the half to seal the win.

The Bison shot 32 percent from the field but did force 18 turnovers, compared to the 17 they committed. Zawacki finished with nine points while Litwinko had eight to go along with five boards. Kelleher registered six points.

Endicott shot 44 percent from the field, 80 percent from the charity stripe, and 33 percent from long range. Senior Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) played a strong game in her 28 minutes of play as she led the team with five dimes to go along with two steals.

Nichols hosts Wentworth Saturday at 2 p.m. while Endicott hosts WNE at 1 p.m.

Contributions from Endicott sports information