BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted Wellesley in the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) quarterfinals on Wednesday evening. All-CCC Third Team member, sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) posted an impressive 18 points and six steals to help edge the Blue 58-51. The Gulls improve to 21-7 while the Blue end their season at 16-10.
The first half was a battle as it was a one point score at the end of the first 20 minutes in Wellesley's favor. Both sides shot well from all categories, while they also played good defense by only committing four fouls apiece. Cuddy paved the way for the Blue and Green with nine points while NEWMAC Player of the Year senior Leslie Leong (Sacramento, Calif.) posted 10.
Cuddy drew first in the opening minutes with a pair of layups, but Leong answered back with a quick layup and a deep trey. After going bucket for bucket by the halfway mark Wellesley gained a five point advantage at 15-10. After a short jumper from the field by senior Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H) the Blue's Morgyne Weaver (Oklahoma City, Okla.) hit the And1 play to take an 18-12 lead with 8:19 remaining in the half.
Needing a spark, Coach Hutchinson sent in sophomore Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) to the floor where she drove in the paint for the layup and nailed a deep trey off a crisp dish from senior Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) to take a 19-18 lead.
The Blue took back the lead with a couple good jumpers from freshman Ailis Hanley (Bedford, N.H.) but junior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and Cuddy each drained a pair of treys to take a one point lead. In the final seconds Weaver made a jumper from the field to take the 30-29 edge into halftime for the Blue.
The second half showed a stronger Gull's squad that outscored Wellesley 29-21, again led by Cuddy with nine along with her five steals. Endicott was able to hold the Blue's top shooter Leong to only two points in the entire half to help seal the victory. The Blue struggled from long range only hitting 1-9 while the Gulls shot 33.3%, luckily despite Endicott's poor shooting from the charity mark, Wellesley hit a free throw lull as well only shooting 2-4 to the Gulls 7-12.
To start off the second half both sides struggled to find the hoop as neither team earned points until the 17:40 mark when Hanley went 1-2 from the free throw line. The lull seemed to pose the calm before the storm, because the Gulls took off lighting up the scoreboard with nine consecutive, unanswered points to take a 38-33 lead with 12:30 remaining in the game.
For the Blue and Green they played hard throughout the rest of the half never giving up their lead with some last minute efforts from senior Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) alongside Whall and Cuddy. To wrap up the victory Endicott ripped off eight unanswered points to seal the 58-51 victory. Cuddy played one of her best defensive games yet as she tied her single game, career high for steals with six.
Endicott will take the court next on Saturday, March 8th at 4:00 p.m. when they host #6 Framingham State. At 6:00 p.m. #4 Smith will take on #8 Brandeis to wrap up semifinals play. The winners of both games will compete for the ECAC Championship on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. The rest of the tournament is set to be hosted by Endicott at MacDonald Gymnasium.
2014 ECAC DIII NEW ENGLAND WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Quarterfinals • Wednesday, March 5
#8 Brandeis University (13-12) at #1 Emmanuel College (19-7) - BC 64, EMM 55
#7 Wellesley College (16-9) at #2 Endicott College (20-7) - EC 58, WC 51
#6 Framingham State University (17-11) at #3 Wheaton College (20-7) - FSU 82, WC 69
#5 Rivier University (20-7) at #4 Smith College (16-11) - SC 75, RU 67
Semifinals • Saturday, March 8*
#6 Framingham State (18-11) vs #2 Endicott (21-7), 4:00 p.m.
#4 Smith (17-11) vs #8 Brandeis (14-12), 6:00 p.m.
Championship Game • Sunday, March 9*
Semifinal Winners, TBD
*Games will be held at Endicott's MacDonald Gymnasium
