Women’s Basketball Grabs 65-58 Victory at Gordon

WENHAM, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team posted a 65-58 victory at Gordon College Saturday afternoon at the Bennett Center.

The Lions improve to 5-9 on the year and 4-4 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the win. The Fighting Scots fall to 2-13 overall and 0-8 in league action with the loss.

Jasmine Mata (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scored a team-best 17 points on the day. Elia Salazar (Los Angeles, Calif.) finished with 14 points and eight rebounds. Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) added 13 points while Courtney Houston (Santa Barbara, Calif.) grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds.

A trey by Mata with 14:35 remaining in the first half extended the visitors' lead to 13-2 and capped off an 11-0 run.

Eastern Nazarene widened the gap to 27-9 with 7:18 left to play as Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) tossed in a put-back layup.

The home team outscored the Lions 14-7 in the final seven minutes of the half. The guests carried a 34-23 advantage into the halftime intermission.

Greer poured in a team-best 11 points through 20 minutes of play while Salazar and Mata collected six points each. Vickers registered six boards, four points, four steals and three assists in the opening frame.

Eastern Nazarene shot 40.5% from the floor and 30.8% from three-point range in the first half. Gordon connected on 41.7% of its first-half shots, including 1-of-3 three-point attempts.

The Fighting Scots cut the deficit to seven with 17:52 on the clock as Olivia Vetere knocked down a three-pointer, 36-29.

After the hosts pulled to within four with 11:18 remaining, the Lions responded with four answered points to regain a 49-41 edge.

Eastern Nazarene drained four free throws on eight attempts in the final minute of the contest to wrap up the win.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 35.8% in the game while shooting 27.3% from beyond the arc. The Fighting Scots shot 38.9% from the floor and 42.9% from the perimeter on the day.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home to host Nichols January 20.