BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted Smith College on Sunday afternoon for the ECAC DIII New England Women's Basketball Championship. Entering the matchup the Gulls were the #2 seed in the tournament while Smith earned the #4 seed. Senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) earned a double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds to help the Gulls soar to the programs first championship with a 79-76 final score. With her efforts, Crough was named the ECAC Championship game MVP. Endicott finished the season on a high note at 23-7 while the Pioneers just fell short to an 18-12 overall record.
The game marked the first ever ECAC Championship appearance for the Blue and Green and under the leadership of head coach Brittany Hutchinson, who is in her third year, Endicott claimed their first title in the programs 20 years.
The first half showed a Gulls squad who had their eyes on the prize as they outscored the Pioneers 46-42 while opening up with a 17-6 score highlighted by Crough who posted nine points in four minutes. Smith worked to find a rhythm with efforts from freshman Jazmine Collins (Springfield, Mass.) along with freshman Mandy Castro (San Diego, Calif.) who came in off the bench and nailed a deep try to get back within six points by the 12:09 mark.
With less than 10 minutes to go in the first half Castro tied the game up at 29-29 with another three-pointer, but the Gulls would not give up their flow as they continued to score five straight points. At the 5:09 mark with the Pioneers down by four, Castro again came up big with her third three-pointer to make it a one point game. However the Blue and Green wanted to close out the half on top as they outscored Smith 10-7 in the final minutes, to take the 46-42 lead.
Crough controlled the scoreboard in the first with all of her 19 points while senior Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) and sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) followed with nine apiece. Senior Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) showed why she is the Gulls leading play maker at the point guard position as she tallied seven assists in 13 minutes.
The second half posed a great threat as both team came out of the gates firing, led by the Pioneers 34-33 in points. However White and junior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) helped keep the Gulls in check with their 10 points each in the half.
Junior Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, Calif.) gave Smith their first lead of the game at the 16:57 mark when she drained a jumper from long range making it a 51-50 game. With efforts from Whall and White the game was tight for the next five minutes until the 11:18 mark when Endicott started to fire up. Junior Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) came in off the bench and hit a deep trey to take a 63-59 lead followed with a quick layup from Whall.
Whall and Cuddy created uproar in the crowd as they both drained back to back three-pointers to take a seven point lead with 7:17 remaining in regulation. The Pioneers would not step away quietly as they slowly crept back up with key points from senior Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H.) and junior Lauren Weston (Florence, Mass.) as they made it a three point game with two minutes to go. In the final seconds Solis hit a deep three to make it a one point game but it was not enough as White earned a trip to the line and went 4-4 to secure the 79-76 victory.
Overall the Blue and Green played one of the best games of the season highlighted by Crough and White who finished the night with 19 points each, while Cuddy (17) and Whall (16) trailed right behind them. The Gulls had five seniors on this team in Crough, White, Robinson, Manning and Shannon Quinn (Exeter, N.H.) who will bow out in their time in an Endicott jersey with helping give the Endicott women's basketball program their first championship.
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), EC 67, FSU 64.
#4 Smith (17-11) vs #8 Brandeis (14-12), Smith 64, BC 61
Championship Game • Sunday, March 9*
#4 Smith (18-11) vs #2 Endicott (22-7) - EC 79, sc 76
2014 ECAC DIII New England Women's Basketball Champions: Endicott Gulls
