DUDLEY, Mass. – The stingy defense of the Nichols women's basketball team forced 56 turnovers and set a new program-best for steals in a single game with 31 in a 76-68 triumph over Thomas in non-conference play on Tuesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center. With the win, the Bison earned their first victory of the season. The Terriers fell to 0-6 with the setback.
Both teams traded buckets in the early-going of the first quarter, but it was
Abrianna Vazquez completing a three-point play with 3:23 left that gave Nichols its largest lead of the game at 17-8. The Terriers continued to climb their way back as the first frame continued, and as time expired Samantha Fortin put an offensive rebound back up and in for the visitors to take a 20-19 lead as time expired.
The tenacious Nichols defense forced 17 turnovers and outscored Thomas, 17-14, in the second quarter to take a 36-34 lead into the locker room.
Trailing the Bison 44-42 with 3:51 to play in the third, the Terriers strung together an 11-0 run over a 2:44 span to take a nine-point lead. The scoring onslaught was canceled out on a three-pointer from Vazquez to cut the deficit to six. With just three seconds left in the quarter,
Kiera Fernandes scored a layup on a fast break opportunity while getting fouled and sunk the lone free-throw to make it a one-possession game heading into the final period of regulation.
Down by four with under eight minutes to play, Nichols strung together a 9-0 run over just 45 seconds, capped off by a Vazquez layup to take a five-point advantage and force Thomas into a timeout. The Bison outscored the Terriers by 11 in the fourth to secure the first victory of the year. Vazquez shot 3-of-5 from three-point range and went a perfect 6-for-6 at the free-throw stripe to help Nichols pull away.
Vazquez recorded a double-double, finishing with 32 points and 10 steals in the victory. Both Fernandes and Ortiz recorded double-digit point totals with 13 and 12, respectively.
Erin Cann and
Adriana Romano combined for 15 of the 36 Nichols rebounds.
The team's 31 steals set a new program record, which was set a week prior as the Bison stole the ball 29 times in a loss to Wellesley. The record had been previously held since January 26, 1991, as Nichols recorded 28 steals against MIT.
Through four games played, Nichols leads all of NCAA Division III with 25.8 steals per game and 44 turnovers forced per game.
The Bison now sit 2-0 in the all-time series with Thomas, dating back to a meeting in late January of 1987 when Nichols took down the Terriers 65-60.
Nichols will now gear up for Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play as the Bison are set to host Roger Williams on Wednesday, November 30 at the Nichols Athletic Center, with tip off set for 5:30 p.m.
