Women’s Basketball Earns Thrilling 51-49 Win Over Gordon

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team eked out a 51-49 victory over Gordon Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center, snapping a three-game skid.

The Lions improve to 5-4 on the season and 1-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the result. The Fighting Scots fall to 3-5 overall and 0-3 in league action with the loss.

Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scored 13 points to lead the home team. Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with nine points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) chipped in with eight points and nine boards while Jessica Franco (Phoenix, Ariz.) also netted eight points.

The home team clung to a five-point lead after the first quarter, 15-10.

The Lions outscored the Fighting Scots 13-11 in the second period to hold a 28-21 advantage at halftime.

Eastern Nazarene shot 35.3% from the field and 1-for-8 from three-point range. Gordon connected on 37% of its field-goal attempts in the first half and drained just one trey on nine attempts.

The visitors scored 15 points in the third frame while the hosts tallied 14 to sport a 42-36 lead.

The fourth quarter was closely contested with margin separating the teams reaching just five points early in the period.

Gordon leveled the score at 47-47 with 3:10 left to play as Jamie Tafoya tossed in a layup.

Eastern Nazarene pushed the gap to 50-47 with under two minutes remaining on a free throw followed by a jumper by Franco.

The Fighting Scots cut the deficit to one with 1:33 on the clock as Tafoya converted a pair of free throws, 50-49.

On the Lions' next possession, Mata drew a foul and nailed the first of two attempts from the charity stripe to increase the lead to 51-49 with 1:14 to go in regulation.

The guests missed a layup at the buzzer as Eastern Nazarene escaped with its first conference win of the season.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 34.4% to go with 2-for-13 shooting from beyond the arc. The Fighting Scots shot 37.7% from the floor and 23.1% from the perimeter.

Tafoya paced Gordon with 17 points on the night while Kristen Smith added 11 points.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene wraps up the month of December on the road at non-conference foe Becker Thursday.