NEWPORT, R.I. – The Nichols women's basketball team started off its two-game Rhode Island road trip in the loss column, as the Bison fell at Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Salve Regina on Wednesday, 96-90, at the Rodgers Recreation Center. With the loss, Nichols fell to 7-17 (5-12 CCC) while the Seahawks advanced to 15-9 (10-7 CCC).

Salve Regina jumped out to a 23-11 lead at the end of the first quarter after Nichols got off to a slow shooting start over the first 10 minutes of play.

In the second quarter, Erin Cann and Kiera Fernandes both posted eight points to get the Bison back in the mix.

Trailing 48-35 out of the halftime break, the Bison offense would truly come alive as Abrianna Vazquez (12) and Leandra Ortiz (7) scored 19 of the 27 Nichols points, while the defense would hold the Seahawks to 33.3% shooting in the stanza.

Trailing 79-71 with 4:48 to play, Nichols used a five-point swing to bring the game withing one-possession. The Bison would regain the lead on a pair of Vazquez free-throws later with just under 2 minutes to play, but that would be the last time Salve would trail as the Seahawks would come away with a six-point win.

Nichols recorded 19 steals in the setback, leading to 32 points off turnovers.

With her 29 points, Vazquez broke the program record for most points in a season, a record previously held by Linda Rose who scored 532 in the 1990-91 season. As a team, the Bison broke the record for most three-pointers in a season with 229, breaking the record of 218 set by last year's team. As a team, the Bison also broke the record for most steals in a single season with 416, which was held previously by the 2021-2022 team with 415 steals. 

The Bison will finish the regular season in a 1 p.m. matchup at Roger Williams on Saturday afternoon.