Women’s Basketball Falls at Gordon, 71-53

WENHAM, Mass.- Returning to action after a 20-day break, the Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team dropped a 71-53 decision at Gordon Saturday afternoon.

The Lions slip to 7-4 on the season and 1-3 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with the setback. The Fighting Scots improve to 3-8 overall and 1-3 in league action with the victory.

Shelby Holmes (Seeley Lake, Mont.) netted 14 points to lead the squad. Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Scottsdale, Ariz.) finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. Kayla Torio (Manteca, Calif.) tallied nine points while Stella Dulay (Santa Maria, Calif.) added eight points off the bench.

After a back-and-forth start to the game, the home team chalked up eight consecutive points to grab a 15-8 lead after one quarter of action.

Eastern Nazarene trailed 34-20 at halftime after Gordon outscored the visitors 19-12 in the second frame.

The Lions shot 26.7% from the floor and just 14.3% from three-point range in the first half. The Fighting Scots posted a field-goal percentage of 37.9% to go with 20% shooting from beyond the arc in the opening two quarters.

The hosts widened the gap to 20 points with 2:52 remaining in the third as Jess Ryan sank the second of two free throw attempts, 52-32.

The guests faced a 54-35 deficit heading into the fourth period.

Eastern Nazarene narrowly outscored Gordon in the final frame 18-17 as the Fighting Scots earned their first conference win of the season.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 30.6% while connecting on just 4-of-27 from behind the arc. Gordon shot 44.2% from the floor and 28.6% from deep on the afternoon.

Megan Foley notched a double-double for the home side as she paced all players with 30 points and 10 rebounds.

Looking ahead, Eastern Nazarene returns home January 9 to host reigning five-time league champion University of New England.