by 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(Navjao/Hopi) 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.
