Box Score

DUDLEY, Mass. – Senior Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.) racked up her fifth double-double of the season with 18 points and 14 rebounds in a 56-48 Nichols College win over Anna Maria College in non-conference women's basketball action Thursday night at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Senior captain Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.) and junior Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) each notched six steals as the Bison (3-5) forced 28 turnovers in route to snapping their five-game losing skid. Spirka chipped in with 16 points and six assists while Lindgren snared nine rebounds.

The AMCats (3-6) were paced by junior Kayla Cummings (Auburn, Mass.), who scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. As a team, the AMCats held the Bison to just 27 percent from the floor (18-of-67) and outrebounded them 45-42, but struggled to hold onto the ball all evening.

Nichols fell behind by six early in the first half before a layup by Zophin at 13:30 gave the Bison their first lead of the game. The opening 20 minutes saw the AMCats rally to tie the game three times before six points from Zophin in the closing 2:30 gave the home team a 30-25 edge at the break. Zophin led Nichols with 11 in the first half while sophomore Sarah Whitestone (Dalton, Mass.) poured in 10. Cummings scored 13 points and grabbed six boards to lead AMC.

In the second half, the Bison extended their lead to nine three minutes in on a basket by Spirka, then grabbed their first double-digit lead on a pair of free throws by Zophin at 8:13. Two free throws by Cummings with 49 seconds remaining cut the Bison deficit to six, and a three by freshman Lindsay Bond (Webster, Mass.) made it 53-48 with 28 ticks remaining. Spirka answered with a pair of free throws at the other end, and a missed three by senior Alison McCarthy (Lynn, Mass.) with 11 seconds left sealed the win for Nichols.  

“We forced a lot of turnovers,” said Nichols first-year head coach Alice Mullen. “I was most proud of the fact that we only turned the ball over four times in the second half. That's how we're going to win games, by taking care of the ball, getting more possessions, and scoring. We also made (close to) 75 percent of our free throws tonight, which really helped us out. It's something we have stressed in practice, and now it's carrying over into games. With this win, we can all go home for the holidays feeling good about ourselves.”

The Bison hit on 18-of-25 from the charity stripe (72 pct.) and picked up assists on 11 of their 18 field goals. The two teams were a combined 5-of-25 from downtown (20 pct.).

Nichols returns to action on January 5 with a home contest against Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) foe Wentworth at noon. Anna Maria host WPI Tuesday at 7 p.m.