Women’s Basketball Absorbs 68-57 Loss to Roger Williams

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team fell to Roger Williams 68-57 Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions move to 6-12 on the season and 5-7 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the loss. The Hawks improve to 14-6 overall and 11-2 in league action with the victory.

Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) scored 19 points and grabbed five boards. Courtney Houston (Santa Barbara, Calif.) finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two steals. Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) registered 10 points and six rebounds. Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) notched five points, four assists and three boards while Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) hauled in a team-best eight rebounds.

The hosts claimed an 8-2 lead four minutes into the contest as Grays knocked down the second of two free throw attempts.

The guests leveled the score at 27-27 with 3:47 remaining in the half as Teagan Dunn converted a pair of shots from the charity stripe.

Eastern Nazarene responded with five unanswered points to establish a 32-27 advantage with 2:21 left to play.

Roger Williams scored five consecutive points to end the half and control a 35-34 lead at intermission.

Vickers paced the home team at halftime with nine points while Houston added eight points.

Eastern Nazarene connected on 41.4% of its field-goal attempts in the first half. Roger Williams shot 47.8% from the field in the opening frame while draining 5-of-9 attempts from outside the perimeter.

The two teams traded the lead until the Lions chalked up back-to-back buckets to grab a four-point edge with 7:29 left to play, 51-47.

The Hawks strung together a 13-0 run to seize a 60-51 lead with 3:03 on the clock.

The visitors sealed their fifth-straight win with eight free throw makes in a row in the final two minutes of play.

The Lions shot 34.4% from the floor and 21.4% from beyond the arc on the night. The Hawks posted a field-goal percentage of 47.7% to go with 45.5% shooting from three-point range.

Angelica Ariola scored 24 points for Roger Williams to lead all scorers while Rachel Battista added 12 points off the bench.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene steps out of conference play to host Newbury February 5.