Del Valle, Harden pace 82-68 win on road for Seahawks

DUDLEY, Mass. – Junior Brianna Del Valle (Belchertown, Mass.) and sophomore Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) each scored a game-high 24 points as Salve Regina University defeated Nichols College, 82-68, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Nichols Athletic Center.

Salve Regina (10-9, 8-4 CCC) shot 46 percent for the game and 23-of-28 from the charity stripe (82 percent). Del Valle also snared 13 rebounds – 10 of which came in the first half – while senior Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with eight points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and two blocks.

Junior captain Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) recorded 19 points and eight rebounds in the Bison loss. Senior captain Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) and junior Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) each netted 16 points for the Bison, who slipped to 9-9 on the season (4-7 CCC). Spirka added five rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals while Litwinko notched five boards, two assists and two steals.

Nichols shot 48 percent in the first half and, despite being outrebounded 20-12, trailed by only one at the break (35-34). Salve Regina led by as many as seven midway through the stanza before the Bison closed the half on a 22-16 run. Spirka was 3-for-3 from downtown and led the Bison with 11 points while Litwinko netted seven and Wegrzynek added six. Del Valle recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in 14 minutes of action to pace the Seahawks.

The Bison took their first lead of the game 63 seconds into the second half on a layup by Spirka. The Seahawks answered with a 20-7 run to move in front 55-43 with 11:19 on the clock. Harden sparked the run with nine points while Del Valle added five. A basket by junior Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) with 6:20 to go pushed the Seahawks lead to 15, and the Bison could get no closer than nine the rest of the way.

Nichols finished the contest shooting 43 percent from the floor, but was outrebounded 43-34 and outscored 42-28 in the paint. The Bison only committed 10 turnovers.

The Bison host Curry Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. Salve Regina hosts Endicott Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.