Women’s Basketball Knocks Off Nichols, 96-70

BOSTON – Five Rams poured in double figures to lead Suffolk women's basketball to a 96-70 Commonwealth Coast Conference victory over Nichols Saturday afternoon at Larry E. and Michael S. Smith Court. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 96 | Nichols 70
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-4, 5-3 CCC) | Nichols (6-8, 3-4 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Nichols used full court defense in the hopes of catching Suffolk off guard. The Rams were prepared for the pressure and quickly built a 20-4 cushion at the midway point of the opening quarter.  

Substitutions on either side paid off for the Bison as a back-and-forth affair consumed the action of the final four minutes of the opening quarter. Thankfully, the early edge helped the host maintain a 29-15 margin at the first break. 

Amanda DeAngelis paced the offensive output in the first frame with 10 points, while Jordan Moreau and Lauren Romito supplied eight points each. 

The Rams built a 28-point advantage, 52-24, with 1:19 before the halftime buzzer as they outscored the Bison, 23-9. 

Nichols scored seven unanswered points to close out the second quarter to slice the margin down to 52-31 at the intermission.   

Momentum carried in Nichols' favor to get the third quarter going. Behind a 15-3 spurt, the Bison cut the Rams lead to six, 55-49, 3:59 into the second half. 

Colby Guinta buried a triple to ignite a 14-0 Rams' run that restored a double figure distance, 69-49, at the 2:08 mark. That scoring stretch featured treys from Guinta, Madi Mahoney, Moreau and a traditional 3-point play by Romito.  

That gap grew to 20-plus points at the end of the third stanza, 76-52.  

Suffolk managed to keep an even pace with Nichols throughout the fourth frame to lock up the conference victory.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• DeAngelis was on the verge of a triple-double with 16 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists with a pair of blocks and one steal to her credit. 
• Romito finished with a game-high 25 points behind an 11-for-15 showing from the floor. She added nine boards, four swats and four takeaways. 
• Moreau registered 17 points on a 6-for-11 performance from the field to go along with five caroms and five helpers. 
• Mahoney tallied 12 points, four handouts, one block and one steal. 
• Guinta had 10 points, four dimes, five rebounds and one steal. 
• Both Moreau and Guinta shot 3-for-5 from behind-the-arc, while Mahoney went 2-for-4 from downtown. 
• Suffolk scored 16 points in transition compared to the Bison's 10. 
• Nichols turned Suffolk's 35 turnovers into 27 points.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated Nichols for the for the fifth straight meeting to move to 14-12 all-time against the Bison. 
• The Rams improved to 9-4 versus Nichols in Boston. 
• Suffolk is now 9-1 against the Bison under Ed Leyden's leadership. 
• Suffolk poured in 90-plus points versus Nichols for the second straight meeting. 
• DeAngelis put together her fourth consecutive double-double, 11th of the year and 27th of her collegiate career.
• DeAngelis dished out a career-high eight assists. 
• Romito notched a career-high in points (25), field goals made (11) and steals (4). 
• Moreau tallied a personal-best in points (17), field goals made (6) and 3-point field goals made (3).
• Allison Bono matched a career-high in points (7), field goals made (3), assists (2), steals (2) and set a new career-high in 3-pointers made (1) and blocks (1).  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk hits the road next week with trips to Hartford (Jan. 17) and Roger Williams (Jan. 20) on tap.