Women’s Basketball Freezes Wentworth, Prevails 62-44

QUINCY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team notched a 62-44 victory over Wentworth Institute of Technology Tuesday evening at the Lahue Physical Education Center.

The Lions improve to 4-8 overall and 3-3 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the win. The Leopards fall to 3-10 on the season and 1-5 in the league with the loss.

Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) led the home team with 18 points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists on the night. Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) registered her second double-double of the year as she finished with 11 points and 10 boards. Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) netted 11 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Eastern Nazarene tallied 13 of the first 15 points of the game to establish a 13-2 lead with 10:34 remaining in the first half.

Wentworth snapped a nine-minute scoring drought with a free throw by Rachael Camara with 8:11 on the clock.

The Lions stretched their advantage to 21-6 with 1:29 left to play in the first frame on a jump shot by Jaysa Cooper (Frisco, Texas).

The hosts headed into the halftime intermission sporting a 25-10 lead after Mata went coast-to-coast and beat the buzzer with a layup.

Eastern Nazarene shot 28.1% from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of play and came up empty on all 11 attempts from beyond the arc. The Leopards struggled from the field in the first half as they sank just three shots on 25 tries to own a field-goal percentage of 12%.

Vickers paced the home side with eight points and Mata added six points off the bench.  Courtney Houston (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Greer each hauled in five first-half rebounds.

The Lions carried their momentum into the second stanza. The hosts widened the gap to 20 points with 12:30 remaining as Vickers banked in a fast-break layup, 42-22.

Eastern Nazarene maintained a margin of double-digits throughout the second half to collect its second straight win.

The Lions posted a field-goal percentage of 33.8% in the contest while connecting on just 2-of-18 three-point efforts. The Leopards were limited to 28.8% shooting on the evening and missed all five three-pointers attempted.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene travels to Newport to square off against Salve Regina January 15.