Women's Basketball Falls at Nichols 60-49

Dudley, Mass.  – Led by a career-high 23 points from junior guard Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.), the Nichols College women's basketball team defeated visiting Framingham State, 60-49, Tuesday evening. The Bison snapped the Rams' five-game win streak while winning their first game since December 3. Nichols improves to 2-7 overall while Framingham State dips to 7-3.

Lindgren scored 13 of her game-high total in the opening half, and finished the game shooting 7-for-15 from the floor while hitting 8 of 11 free throws. She added a game-high six assists, three steals and a team-best eight rebounds. Classmate Natalie Wilson (Bedford, N.H.) added 11 points, hitting 3 of 6 from three-point range, and Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) chipped in with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Framingham State newcomer junior Madeleine Park (Blue Hill, Maine) led the Rams in her first start with 15 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) added 13 points.

Park sank a three-pointer for the game's first basket, but Nichols did not look back after a pair of Lindgren baskets gave the Bison the lead within the opening three minutes. Nichols steadily built a double-digit lead, using a 50% effort from three-point range (4-of-8) to boost its way to a 12-point margin with less than two minutes remaining in the half, 28-16.

Returning from the break with a 30-21 lead in hand, Nichols allowed Framingham to come back within five points, 30-25, in the opening two minutes, but a Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.) layup sent the Bison back on their way to a double-digit lead.

Nichols held its largest lead of the game with just over five minutes to play, a 16-point advantage at 52-36, but the Rams started to chip away at the deficit led by Hoffman. Using a 13-4 run over the next four minutes, Framingham State cut the Bison's lead back to seven, capped by a Park three-pointer. But the Bison defense came alive and held the Rams scoreless over the remaining 1:35 to hold on for the 60-49 win.

Framingham out-rebounded their hosts by a 49-39 margin, but the Bison parlayed 22 Rams turnovers into 21 points. Nichols held Framingham to just 26.6% shooting from the floor in the game.

Nichols returns to Commonwealth Coast Conference action Saturday in a 1 p.m. game at Wentworth. Framingham travels to Mount Ida Thursday evening for a 7 p.m. non-conference matchup.

Release courtesy of Nichols Sports Information.