DUDLEY, Mass. (2/1/2025) –  The Nichols College women's basketball team outscored conference opponent Curry College 50-34 in the second half, lifting the Bison to an 83-72 victory on Saturday afternoon at the Nichols Athletic Center.

It was a hard-fought win for the Bison, who complete the regular season sweep of the Colonels while improving to 12-7 (5-7 CNE) overall. Curry, with the loss, falls to 6-13 (3-9 CNE).

Alyvia Smith paced the offense with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-14 (64.3%) shooting, which also included five baskets from behind the arc. Adriana Romano joined Smith in double figures with 18 points, while also filling the stat sheet with six rebounds, six steals and four assists. Summer Klein and Abrianna Vazquez were also standouts in the win, combining for 25 points. Nichols shot 35.5 (27-of-76) percent from the floor and scored 36 points off 36 forced turnovers with 21 steals.

Both teams came out firing in the opening quarter, with a Rylee Barrieault three-pointer tying the score at 13-13 for the Bison with 2:53 to go. Curry quickly answered with a tip-in layup to make it 15-13, which spearheaded a 7-2 run down the line that gave the Colonels a five-point edge after one.

The Bison returned the favor with their own 7-2 run to open the second quarter, with Smith accounting for five of the points to tie the score at 22-22. However, Curry was once more than willing to answer back, as they rattled off seven unanswered points to claim their largest lead of the half at 29-22. From there, Nichols managed to shave two points off Curry's lead, resulting in a 38-33 score at halftime.

The Colonels opened the scoring in the second half but were immediately put on notice as Klein and Smith each nailed three-pointers for the Bison. Working off the momentum from the early triples, Nichols battled back to tie the score at 48-48 before returning to the lead on a Romano layup, for which she was awarded an extra free throw after drawing a foul to make it 53-51 Bison. Curry answered with a late three of their own, sending both teams into the fourth tied yet again at 54-54.

The Bison won the fourth quarter by a landslide, 29-18, going 8-of-15 (53.3%) from the field and 9-of-10 (90.0%) from the free throw line to seal the win. Nichols led by as many as 16 points in the frame, which came right at the tail end on a pair of Vazquez free throws with 00:43 left on the clock.

Nichols women's hoops returns to action on Wednesday, February 5^th when they travel to meet the University of Hartford (7-12, 5-7 CNE) at 5:30 PM.