PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Regis College picked up its second conference victory over Johnson and Wales University, defeating the Wildcats, 59-47, in a competitive Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) basketball matchup Wednesday night at the Wildcat Center.
Pam Gonzalez (Revere, Mass.) led the Pride in scoring with 19 points, earning the double-double with a game-high 10 rebounds and six steals. Olivia Pacheco (Waterford, Conn.) scored nine points coming off the bench, adding eight rebounds while shooting 4-for-5 from the field.
Gonzalez and Jordyn Striggles (Bridgewater, Mass.) scored the first baskets of the game, giving the Pride an early 4-0 lead. From there the first quarter went back and forth with Regis holding onto a 16-12 lead heading into the second quarter. Five Regis players scored in the second quarter as the Pride outscored the home team, 13-10, to extend their lead to seven points heading into the half.
Back-to-back threes by Jennell Martin and a layup by Naheema Walker cut the Regis lead to just two points early in the second half, but a timely three-pointer from Gonzalez put the Pride up 35-30 forcing a Wildcat timeout. Gonzalez kept the hot hand going after the timeout, knocking down a jumper and forcing a foul for the three-point play and then hitting another three to give Regis an 11-point advantage over Johnson and Wales.
A layup by Madi Zancan (Cumberland, R.I.) at the end of the third put the Pride up 50-33 and gave Regis a 17-point lead, its largest lead of the night. The Wildcats managed to outscore the Pride in the fourth quarter but were unable to overcome the deficit.
The Pride dominated in the paint, scoring 32 points down low compared to only 18 for Johnson and Wales. Regis also outrebounded the home team by a margin of 37-34 while outshooting the Wildcats with a field goal percentage of 38.7 percent compared to 35.6 percent for Johnson and Wales.
Regis College (2-5) improves to 2-0 in conference play and returns to play on Saturday, Dec. 10, hosting Framingham State, tip-off at 1:00 p.m.