BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted North Shore rival Gordon on Wednesday evening for a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup. The Gulls bench posted an impressive 26 points in the 64-43 victory over the Fighting Scots, led by senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) who scored 16 points in just 22 minutes of play. The Gulls improve to 14-4, (9-2 CCC) while the Scots fall to 5-13, (1-10 CCC).
The first half was controlled by the Gulls as they outscored the Fighting Scots 34-22 while holding Gordon to just 27.3% shooting from inside the arc compared to the Gulls 42.9%. The Blue and Green also held strong on the free throw line as they went 7-7, and 3-7 from long range.
In the opening minutes both sides were going bucket for bucket making it a tight game on the scoreboard with big efforts from Gordon's freshman standout, Fredi Nielsen (Harmony, Maine). Gordon took their only lead of the game since the tip-off when senior Skylar Bareford (Stonington, Conn.) nailed a trey to make it a 9-8 game. However, Crough would not let the basket go unanswered as she hit two jumpers in the paint to take the 12-11 lead.
The Blue and Green followed in her stead as they continued to score six more unanswered points to take a seven point lead at the 9:27 mark. With 6:32 minutes remaining in the first half, junior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) came in off the bench and tallied five consecutive points. Bareford would not end the half quietly as she answered back going 3-3 from the charity stripe after being fouled outside the arc.
With less than five minutes to go sophomore Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) and junior Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) each posted a bucket from long range to give the Gulls a 15 point lead. Junior Brooke Kratche (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) came back to score six consecutive points for the Scots to cut the lead down to 12 to enter halftime.
The second half was similar to the first as the Blue and Green continued to outscore Gordon 30-21 led by Crough and sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) who each posted six points. Endicott scored the best they have all season from downtown as they were almost perfect shooting 4-5, two being from Cuddy.
In the opening minutes Crough and Cuddy were on fire as they went bucket for bucket each scoring six points followed by a layup from senior Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) while keeping the Scots scoreless for the first five minutes of play. At 14:33 Kratche broke the ice for Gordon with a quick jumper to make it a 24 point game.
At 13:01 senior Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) made the best hustle play of the night after she stole the ball from sophomore Olivia Vetere (Mahopac, N.Y.) and proceeded to drive the basket for the fast break layup. With a lot of catching up to do the Scots looked to Nielsen to work hard crashing the boards as she posted four in the half, but they struggled to finish on the offensive end. Senior Shannon Quinn (Exeter, N.H.) took advantage of the Scot's lull and tallied five consecutive points to give the Gulls their largest lead of the night of 29 with 9:31 left on the clock.
Bareford refused to go away quietly as she lit up the scoreboard hitting three consecutive trey's followed by a layup by Kratche to get back within 17. Despite the efforts it was not enough as the Gulls cleared the bench and came out with the big conference victory.
Overall the Blue and Green shot an impressive 58.3% from long range while going 46.3% from inside the arc and 87.5% from the charity stripe. The Gulls bench shot impressive again with 26 points while they worked hard in the paint gaining 20 points, and tabbed 10 second chance points with key offensive rebounds from Crough, Manning, and Whall.
Endicott will take the court next on Saturday, February 1st when they travel to top ranked CCC opponent the University of New England for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off. The Fighting Scots will also take the court on Saturday for a conference matchup against Wentworth on the road at 1:00 p.m.
