Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. – Junior Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in Nichols College's 54-35 loss at Wentworth Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action.

Sophomore Jessica Kelliher (Marshfield, Mass.) chipped in with eight points for the Bison (11-14, 6-12 CCC), who will open the conference playoffs as the No. 7 seed and travel to Bristol, R.I. for a 7:00 p.m. game at No. 2 Roger Williams Tuesday night. The Leopards (8-16, 5-13 CCC), meanwhile, snapped a
five-game losing streak and secured the number eight seed in the upcoming conference tournament.

WIT seniors Ashley Stowe (Charlestown, R.I.), Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) and Christine Henry (Tewksbury, Mass.) combined for 22 points and 18 rebounds in the victory. They, along with classmate Danielle Miranda (Westbrook, Maine), were honored prior to the game as a part of Senior Day festivities.

The two teams traded baskets through the first four minutes and were tied at eight. Stowe led the Leopards during the opening stretch with six points. Kerr then gave Wentworth its first lead at 11-10 with an elbow jumper at the 13:09 mark. A sophomore Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) layup then extended the Leopards lead to three, 13-10, with 9:25 left.

After a Kelliher jumper cut the Wentworth lead to one, sophomore Rachel Camara (Fall River, Mass.) hit a 3-pointer from the wing to push the advantage to 16-12 with 8:17 left in the half. Junior Chelsey Mahoney (Dracut, Mass.) pulled the Bison back within one at 16-15 on a backdoor layup with 4:38 left.
The Leopards answered by holding Nichols scoreless for the remainder of the half and building their lead to 21-15 with Kerr hitting a short jumper from the circle, followed by Camara's second three of the half with 17 seconds remaining.

Kelliher opened the second half with a corner jump-shot to cut the Bison deficit to four, but sophomore Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) responded with Wentworth's third three of the game to bump the lead to 24-17 at the 18:10 mark. After a Stowe layup gave Wentworth a nine-point lead, Wegrzynek completed a three-point play to get Nichols back within six.

Henry then struck quickly, hitting the Leopards' fourth three of the game to make the score 29-20. After a defensive stop, Rogers drove to the basket and made a contested layup with a foul. The free-throw increased the Wentworth lead to 13, at 33-20 with 14:50 to play. Stowe and Kerr added baskets capping a 16-5 run to give the Leopards a 37-20 lead.

After the teams traded hoops, McLaughlin hit her second three, the team's fifth, to give the Leopards a 20 point advantage, 42-22 with 6:22 remaining. The teams would play even down the stretch and the Leopards took the game 54-35.

Stowe, Camara, and Rogers all scored in double figures with Roger's 11 points and five rebounds leading the way. Stowe added 10 points and four rebounds, while Camara had 10 points (2-3 from three), five rebounds and six assists. Kerr chipped in nine points, 13 rebounds, and seven steals. McLaughlin scored eight and pulled down four rebounds and had five assists in the victory.

Freshman Brittany Donovan (Newport, R.I.) scored six points and snared three rebounds for Nichols.

Wentworth will travel, for the second season in a row, to top-seeded and nationally ranked University of New England Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest.

Courtesy of Wentworth sports information