PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Curry College Women's Basketball team lost to Johnson & Wales University, 67-54, in non-conference play Saturday afternoon in Providence, R.I. The Colonels fell to 4-5 on the season, while the Wildcats improved to 7-0 overall.

Curry fell behind early as Johnson & Wales put up five points after the Colonels scored the first points of the game off a layup from freshman Emily Irwin (Billerica, Mass.).  With four and a half minutes left in the first quarter, senior Kerry White (Windham, N.H.) brought the deficit to only three points (15-12) after a successful layup. The Wildcats finished the quarter on a 12-0 run on their way to a 23-12 lead.

The Colonels outscored Johnson & Wales in the second quarter 13-11, with senior Shannon Griffith (West Hartford, Conn.) scoring four of the points. At the end of the first half Curry was down only nine points by a score of 34-25. Griffith led the Colonels in scoring with six total points and sophomore Raquel Pederzani (Coventry, R.I.) led the Wildcats with 13.

Johnson & Wales extended their lead in the third quarter finishing with a 13-point lead (53-40) after Curry continuously battled back to single digit deficits. The fourth quarter was much of the same and sophomore Ashley Thompson (Bellingham, Mass.) closed out the scoring with a made free throw putting the score to a final, 67-54.

The Colonels had three players score double digits with Irwin and sophomore Nicole Rice (Woburn, Mass.) putting up 14 and Griffith following close behind with 12. Griffith also pulled down team high nine rebounds, followed closely by Rice with seven.

Thompson led the Wildcats with 22 points while chipping in seven rebounds as well. Pederzani was close behind with 16 points while adding five steals and junior Kimberly Viafara (Woodside, N.Y.) led the game with 13 rebounds and was third in scoring on the team with 11.

Curry returns to action on January 5, as they host conference foe Endicott College at 5:30 p.m. Johnson & Wales travels to the University of Scranton for a 5:00 p.m. out of conference match-up.