Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Juniors Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) and Chelsey Mahoney (Dracut, Mass.) each scored 10 points to help the Nichols College women's basketball team improved to 2-0 on the season with a 48-45 win over Norwich in non-conference action Tuesday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Litwinko also snared 10 rebounds for the Bison while freshman Julia Zawacki (Waterford, Conn.) pulled down nine to go along with four points. Nichols bounced back from a rough shooting first-half of play (29.4 pct.) to shoot 44 percent over the final 20 minutes and secure the win. This is the second-straight season Nichols has won its first two games of the season.

Norwich (1-2) was paced by junior and leading-scorer Aliah Curry (Windsor, Mass.), who dropped in a game-high 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting. However, 17 of those points came in the first half of play. Senior Erin Clark (Newbury, Vt.) was next with seven points and nine boards while freshman Heather LeBlanc (Sanford, Maine) grabbed 10 rebounds and scored five points.

Both team struggled from the floor in the first half as Nichols was 10-for-34 (29 percent) while Norwich shot at a 33 percent clip (10-of-30). The Bison jumped out to a 15-8 lead courtesy of eight points from Mahoney – including a pair of triples. Norwich responded with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 15 behind five points from Curry.

After the Bison took a 22-17 lead on a Litwink free throw, the Cadets closed the half with a 9-2 run to take a 26-24 lead to the locker room. Curry scored five points in the final 55 seconds of the half, highlighted by a three-pointer with nine second on the clock. She finished the half with 17 points while Mahoney's eight led Nichols.

Litwinko opened the second half with her second field goal of the evening to even the score. Over the next 10 minutes, Nichols took the lead twice, only to see the Cadets rally to tie the score each time. With less than nine minutes remaining, senior captain Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) converted a layup to give the Bison a 39-37 lead. A basket by senior captain Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) pushed the lead to four, and while Norwich cut its deficit to two on two occasions down the stretch, it never tied the game.

"I think we played an all-around great game," said Nichols second-year head coach Alice Mullen. "We focused on taking Curry out of her game and set a goal of keeping her under 20 points. Jessica (Kelliher) and Chelsey did a great job defending her. We had a lot of big plays down the stretch and showed a lot of maturing the way we held together."

The Cadets held a slim 41-40 edge on the glass and scored 26 of their 45 points in the paint. Nichols received 14 points from the bench and assisted on 10 of its 21 field goals. Spirka and junior captain Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) each blocked a pair of shots.

The Bison host Fitchburg State Thursday at 6 p.m. Norwich hosts Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) Saturday at 2:00 p.m.