DUDLEY, Mass. – In the team's Commonwealth Coast Conference 2013-14 opener, the Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team pulled off a 55-44 win over in Nichols College Wednesday evening at the Nichols Athletic Center.

The Hawks (6-1, 1-0 CCC) were led by senior Ari Renwick (Westwood, Mass.), who scored a game-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Senior Kaitlyn Bovee (Berlin, Conn.) recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Hawks shot 44 percent for the game (23-of-52) and outrebounded the Bison 44-34.

Junior Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) recorded eight points and nine rebounds. Senior captain Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) tallied seven points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals as the Bison suffered their second-straight defeat to fall to 4-2 on the season. Junior Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) finished with eight points on 2-of-11 shooting to go along with three boards and three assists.

Nichols shot just 27 percent in the first half (8-of-30) and found themselves trailing 28-19 at the end of 20 minutes of play. The Hawks, meanwhile, knocked down 62 percent of their shots (13-of-21) to help overcome their 16 turnovers. Renwick led all scorers with 13 points while Pelletier, Litwinko, and junior Carly Turpel (Berkley, Mass.) each had four points to pace the Bison.

Bovee opened the second half with a layup to stretch the RWU to 11 at 30-19, but the Bison rattled off a 10-0 run to climb to within a point at 30-29. Wegrzynek scored six-straight points to spark the run. A pair of free throws by Bovee pushed the Hawks lead back to five at 13:13 before a layup by freshman Julie Zawacki (Waterford, Conn.) once again brought the Bison to within one at 36-35.

Renwick converted a layup with 7:01 on the clock to give the Hawks a 43-37 advantage, and following a triple by Pelletier 15 seconds later, sophomore Angelica Ariola (Prospect, Conn.) knocked down a three of her own – her only basket of the game – to put RWU back up by six with 5:10 to play. Their lead grew to nine on a three by Bovee with 2:04 to play.

Roger Williams finished with 23 turnovers compared to 20 for the Bison. Each team moved the ball well as the Hawks assisted on 15 of their 23 field goals while the Bison picked up dimes on 12 of 18.

The Bison return to action on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. home contest against Gordon. Roger Williams hosts Salve Regina Saturday at 1 p.m.

- Release courtesy of the Nichols College Sports Information Department