Gordon Uses First Half to Take Down Women’s Basketball, 78-61

THE BASICS 
Score: Suffolk 61 | Gordon 78
Records: Suffolk (6-6, 1-4 CNE) | Gordon (4-8, 1-4 CNE) 

HOW IT HAPPENED 
Colby Guinta sunk the first basket of the night, a hoop from behind-the-arc, but it turned into a FIghting Scots show as they scored 12 unanswered.  

Hoops from Allison Bono and Arlenis Veloz cut the deficit down to seven, 14-7. Gordon closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run that put the blue-and-gold in a 21-9 hole after the first 10 minutes. 

Limited offense from the home day allowed the visiting Fighting Scots to lengthen their lead to 22, 37-15, at halftime.  

The playing field evened out in the third period, but due to its first half advantage, Gordon remained in front comfortably, 63-37.  

The 20-point margin hung around until the final three minutes. Maddie Stewart converted a trip to the free throw line into two points that sparked a 10-0 Rams run that trimmed the gap down to 17. Olivia Verdile was a main ingredient to that scoring stretch as the sophomore was responsible for the eight points following Stewart's freebies.  

Back-and-forth action closed out the contest and that 17-point margin remained at the final buzzer, 79-61.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Guinta provided 19 points to Suffolk's offense to go along with six rebounds and a pair of steals.
• Stewart supplied 13 points, four caroms, three helpers and one swat.
• Verdile logged eight points, all in the final three minutes, behind a 3-for-5 showing from the floor that included a 2-for-4 effort from downtown. She added two steals.
  
• Ava Thurman tallied six boards, four points, two assists and two takeaways off the bench.  
• Veloz finished with five points, one carom and one steal.

NOTEWORTHY 

• Thurman set a personal-best in rebounds (6) and matched a caerer-high in points (4), assists (2) and steals (2).