Women’s Basketball Edged in OT Thriller by Curry in Home-Opener

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team absorbed an 81-76 loss to Curry in the first home game of the season Saturday afternoon at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions sink to 0-7 on the year and 0-2 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the result. The Colonels improve to 4-2 overall and 2-0 in league games with the win.

Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) posted a game-high 25 points while adding nine rebounds, seven steals and one block. Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) poured in 14 points off the bench in her first game in a Lions' uniform. Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) finished with 13 points, nine boards and three steals.

Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) notched 12 points and seven rebounds while Jordan Grays (Elk Grove, Calif.) chipped in with five points and five boards.

The hosts sprang out to a 9-4 lead early in the contest as Salazar banked in a layup with 17:11 left to play.

The visitors responded with 14 straight points to claim an 18-9 edge with 13:51 remaining.

Eastern Nazarene cut the deficit to two with 6:12 to go in the period as Vickers tossed in a layup, 27-25.

The Lions pulled to within one with 2:15 on the clock on a free throw by Michelle Herrera (Santa Barbara, Calif.), 33-32.

After Curry tallied two points on a jumper by Brianna Hoffman, Mata registered the final five points of the half as she knocked down a layup followed by a triple to give Eastern Nazarene a two-point advantage just before halftime, 37-35.

Vickers paced the home side with 12 points and five rebounds in the opening frame. Salazar tallied eight first-half points and pulled down four boards while Mata netted seven points off the bench.

The Lions shot 36.1% from the field in the first half and 30% from three-point range. The Colonels boasted a field-goal percentage of 41.9% at halftime while missing all three attempts from downtown.

Eastern Nazarene built up a seven-point lead four minutes into the second stanza as Krystal Holl (Smithsburg, Md.) netted a layup, 46-39.

Curry battled back to tie the game at 48-48 on a lay-in by Shannon Griffith with 12:14 left to play in regulation.

The visitors gained a five-point lead with seven minutes to go as Hoffman converted a pair of free throws, 58-53.

The Lions clawed back with five unanswered points to level the score at 58-58 with 5:57 remaining.

The two teams traded control of the lead in the final five minutes of regulation. After the Colonels grabbed a 68-66 lead with 1:45 on the clock, Mata scored a layup to knot the score at 68-68 with 1:37 to go.

The hosts missed a pair of attempts in the waning seconds of regulation as the contest headed to overtime.

Vickers drained a pair of shots from the charity stripe with 2:51 on the clock to put the Lions ahead 72-70.

The guests regained the lead as Kylie Beltz nailed a trey on the ensuing possession to give Curry a 73-72 edge.

Eastern Nazarene captured a 74-73 advantage on a pair of made free throws by Herrera with 2:09 left to play.

Beltz paced the visitors with 23 points in the game while Griffith added 14 points and eight rebounds.

The Colonels scored their final eight points from the free throw line while limiting the Lions to just two points in the final two minutes to secure their second conference win of the season.

Eastern Nazarene connected on 32.1% of its field-goal attempts in the game and drained just 15% of its three-point efforts. Curry shot 38.6% from the floor on the day and 14.3% from beyond the arc.

Up next, the Lions will host Endicott December 9 in the final home game before a 25-day hiatus.