Jan. 15, 2008
DUDLEY, Mass. - Endicott College survived a second half scare and was able to hold off Nichols College, 68-67, to earn a hard-fought TCCC win on Tuesday evening in Dudley, Massachusetts.
Junior Nicole Duchesne's (Plaistow, N.H.) free throw with seven seconds remaining secured the victory for the Gulls as sophomore Lyndsey Bennett's (North Brookfield, Mass.) jumper at the buzzer fell off the mark. Sophomore Ceciley Chisholm (Lexington, Mass.) scored a team-high 14 points for Endicott while Duchesne added 13. Nichols sophomore Margaret Lilly (Ashfield, Mass.) scored a career-high 23 points and grabbed ten rebounds for her third double-double of the season.
Endicott went up by as many as 13 in the first half of play as Nichols struggled from the field, shooting just 26 percent. Duchesne led the Gulls with ten points while junior Nicole Young (Rockland, Mass.) added nine. Lilly led the Bison with nine points.
The Gulls stretched their lead to 18, 48-30, with 15:38 left to go in the second but Nichols outscored Endicott 19-7 over the next six minutes to get to within six, 55-49. Junior MaryLynn Skarzenski (Woodbridge, N.J.) scored 11 of her 14 total points during the run, including an NBA range three.
Graduate student Paris Sanders (Needham, Mass.) gave Endicott a ten point lead with 7:52 to go but the Bison responded with a 12-2 run to tie the game at 63 all with 2:43 remaining. Sophomore Curtia Humbert (Bridgeport, Conn.) was able to grab an offensive rebound behind the baseline and passed off in mid-air to a wide open Lilly under the basket to tie the game.
Following a pair of made free throws by Chisholm, Nichols' freshman Jessica Nelson (North Providence, R.I.) countered with two free throws of her own to re-tie the game at 65 with 48 seconds left. Senior Sara Doherty (Somerville, Mass.) dished off Young down low but Lilly was able to hit a baseline jumper on the other end to tie the game at 67 all with 19 seconds remaining in the game. A foul by the Bison sent Duchesne to the line with seven seconds left as she was able to hit her second attempt to clinch the game for the Gulls.
Young joined Chisholm and Duchesne in double figures with 11 for Endicott, which held the Bison to just 32 percent shooting. Sanders grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Nelson scored a season-high 16 points off 6-10 shooting for Nichols. Skarzenski scored all 14 of her points in the second half to go along with seven rebounds, eight assists and six steals. Humbert struggled from the field to finish with six points but contributed ten rebounds, four assists and four steals for the Bison.
With the win, Endicott improves to 7-6 overall and 2-0 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. The Gulls return to action on Thursday evening as they step out of conference play to take on Babson College at 7:00 pm.
