NEWPORT, R.I. - Sophomore forward Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) led all players with 20 points, 12 of them coming in the second half, as Salve Regina University women's basketball extended its win streak to five with a 69-47 win over visiting Nichols College in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action.

Senior center Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.) had 14 points by halftime to help the Seahawks lead by that amount at the break, 37-23. Salve Regina (16-8; 13-4 CCC) opened the game with a 23-14 burst in the first 12 minutes. Shorey had 12 of her points during that run on five field goals and a pair of free throws.

Freshman Carly Turpel (Berkley, Mass.) came off the bench for the Bison to nail two 3-pointers in the first half. Her first trey started a 9-4 run for Nichols (5-19; 4-13 CCC), which lost its third straight game.

More impressive from Shorey was her shot blocking. In the first half, she rejected eight Bison field goal attempts. She added another in the second half and now stands at 278, just two away from the school's all-time leading shot-blocker, Megan Barry '07 (280).

Senior Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.) scored the first basket of the second half for Nichols before Salve Regina went on a 15-0 run. Pendergast had three layups during that run while junior guard Sarah Averill (Newfields, N.H.) added a 3-pointer as the Seahawks built their largest lead of the game, 52-25, with 13:55 remaining.

Nichols subsequently went on its best run of the day, 12-2, over the next 4:16, to cut the deficit to 17 (54-37). Senior Emily Yourie (Ellington, Conn.) had four free throws during the run. Seahawk freshman forward Brianna DelValle (Belchertown, Mass.) had a layup to keep Salve Regina from being scoreless over that stretch.

DelValle's next layup at 3:03 sparked a 9-2 run for the Seahawks who also got a 3-pointer from Taylor Windwer (Milton, Mass.) and a layup from Allison Pigoga (Exeter, R.I.).

Pendergast and Kaitlyn Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) both finished with nine rebounds. Birrell contributed six assists.

The Salve Regina win coupled with an Endicott loss secured no worse than a tie for second in the regular season which concludes Saturday. The Seahawks can own the second seed outright with a win at Roger Williams University (1 p.m.).

Nichols will honor its two seniors on Saturday while hosting Gordon College. The Scots lost to Wentworth this evening which gives the Bison the eighth and final playoff spot.