BEVERLY, Mass. (2/11/2025) – The Nichols College women's basketball team erased a 19-point deficit with a 53-point second half, but could not complete the comeback as host Endicott College held on to defeat the Bison, 88-82 on Tuesday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium.

With the loss, the Bison fall to 12-10 (5-10 CNE) overall. The Gulls improve to 17-5 (13-2 CNE) with the win.

The Bison finished the game with their best single-game shooting performance in exactly 10 years, going 31-of-62 (50.0%) from the field, which also included a 12-for-26 (46.2%) mark from three-point range. The last time the Bison shot that percentage was on February 11^th, 2015, also at Endicott.

Nichols had four players in double-figures, led by Alyvia Smith's career-high 25 points on 9-of-12 (75.0%) shooting. Abrianna Vazquez was next in line with 15 points in the loss, along with five assists. Adriana Romano and Summer Klein combined for 23 points, with Klein also nabbing a pair of rebounds.

Endicott owned a fragile 20-19 edge through a near-even opening quarter, but used a strong shooting performance in the second quarter to widen their lead to 10 points, 46-36 at the break.

However, Nichols returned the favor with an equally impressive showing in the third quarter, starting with a 13-2 run that pulled the Bison to within three points of the Gulls at 53-50, capped off by a Tiana Fernandez layup. Following several minutes of back-and-forth play, Smith notched five straight points for the Bison, following up her own three-pointer with a layup on the next drive, keeping Nichols within five points with 3:42 to play. In total, Nichols went on to outscore Endicott 29-23 in the frame, and remained close behind entering the fourth quarter trailing 69-65.

Nichols cut the deficit to 74-73 with 6:44 left in regulation on a three-point jumper by Rylee Barrieault. However, that would be as close as Nichols would get, as the Gulls responded with eight unanswered points to bring the score to 82-73, providing them with enough insurance to cruise to the eventual 88-82 final.

The road trip continues this weekend for the Bison, as they head to the University of New England (12-10, 9-6 CNE) for a 1:00 PM tip-off at the Harold Alfond Forum.