Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass.--Sophomore Chelsea Vujs had a team-high 15 points and freshman Samantha Battaini chipped in 14 as the Western New England University Golden Bears fell to the Nichols College Bison 80-65 at the Alumni Healthful Living Center field house on Saturday in a Commonwealth Coast Conference women's basketball match-up. The Golden Bears now fall to 8-13 on the season (5-9 CCC) and the Bison improve to 11-10 (6-8 CCC).

Nichols' Amber Litwinko had a game-high 20 points on a perfect 8-for-8 from the floor and added 11 rebounds, and Kasey Pelletier added 19 points and four assists. Devon Spirka dropped 14 points on 7-for-11 shooting in 38 minutes.

Battaini made all four of her attempts from three-point range on the way to setting her career high in points for the second straight game. Senior co-captains Katie Eckert and Ali Pessolano both added eight points to the Golden Bear offense.

Both teams traded buckets through the first half until the Bison went on a 12-to-6 run to close out the first half and led 34-26 at the break.

Western New England cut the deficit to four, 34-30, on a Vuys lay-up early in the second half, but Nichols eventually pushed the lead up to 10 and led by double-digits for most of the period.

WNE and Nichols pulled down 33 rebounds apiece, but the Golden Bears had 17 offensive to the Bison's nine. The Golden Bears had seven second-chance points and the Bison 10. Litwinko completed a double-double with a game-best 11 boards.
 
The Bison passed the ball well into the post, which resulted in 40 points in the paint, while the Golden Bears scored 24. The Golden Bears' bench outscored the Bison reserves 21-19.
 
Freshmen Paige Young (9 rebounds) and Sammie Olson (3 steals) both netted seven points toward the Golden Bears effort. Western New England shot 42.4 percent from the field on 25-for-59, and the Bison shot 25-of-47 for a 53.2 clip.
 
The Golden Bears struggled moving the ball at times and finished with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.22, compared to the Bison's 1.30. The Bison scored 17 points off turnovers while the Golden Bears 14 off of giveaways.
 
Western New England threw up 19 three-pointers and made nine for 47.4 percent, and Nichols hoisted up seven and connected on two for 28.6 percent.

The Golden Bears visit Wentworth for their next game in another CCC contest on Wednesday.