BOSTON, Mass. – Senior forward Nicole Alberghini (Northborough, Mass.) matched a career-high with 10 points to lead the Simmons College women's basketball team to a 68-42 victory over visiting Newbury College this evening at Moore Gymnasium in Boston, Mass. The Sharks have won three of their last four games and improve to 5-5 on the season, while the Nighthawks fall to 3-7. 

Simmons saw 11 different players crack the scoring column and held Newbury to just 27.1% (13-48) shooting from the floor and forced the visitors into 33 turnovers. 

Alberghini was 4-6 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds in 12 minutes of action off the bench for the Sharks, while first year guard Francesca Corsinetti (Johnston, R.I.) also netted 10 points and added two assists, a rebound and three steals in 14 minutes. Junior forward Ashley McAdams (Freeport, N.Y.) chipped in with nine points, eight boards, four assists and a pair of steals, while senior guard Gracie Rolfe (Newton, Mass.) dropped in nine points to go with a rebound, an assist and a steal. 

First year forward Savannah Olsen (Battle Creek, Mich.) led the Nighthawks with a game-high 11 points in addition to pulling down six rebounds and added two steals and a block, while classmate Taylor Kelley (North Billerica, Mass.) also scored 11 points and added a game-high four steals to go with three rebounds and two assists. 

Olsen scored the first points of the game on a layup to give Newbury a 2-0 lead, but it would be the only time the visitors would hold an advantage as Simmons took the lead on a Corsinetti jumper at 7:01 to take the lead for good. The Sharks later owned an 8-6 margin with 3:37 showing in the first quarter, before closing out the period on a 9-2 run, fueled by five points from Alberghini, to take a 17-8 cushion after one period of play. 

Kelley knocked down a jump shot at 8:56 of the second quarter for the Nighthawks, but Simmons scored the next 10 points, including five from McAdams, to increase its lead to 29-10 with 4:17 to play in the opening half. The Sharks led by as many as 21 points, before heading into the intermission with a 35-15 advantage. 

Kelley later canned a pair of free throws to pull Newbury to within 39-23 with 4:59 left in the third quarter. Simmons answered by ripping off 14 unanswered points, led by a pair of three-pointers from Corsinetti, to take a 53-23 lead with 51 seconds remaining in the period. The Sharks headed into the final quarter with a 53-25 margin. 

McAdams converted a lay-up at the 8:31 mark off a missed free throw to give Simmons its largest lead of the night at 58-27 in the fourth quarter. The Nighthawks took a chunk out of the deficit with 10 straight points, including four points each from Olsen and Kelley, to set the score at 58-37 with 4:31 to go in the contest. It was as close as they would get for the rest of the night as the Sharks scored eight of the next nine points, en-route to a 68-42 victory. 

Simmons returns to action on Saturday, January 9 when it hosts Suffolk University at 1:00 p.m. to open the Great Northeast Athletic Conference slate, while Newbury hosts Regis College at Hellenic College in Brookline, Mass. for a noon tip-off.