BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted rival, Gordon on Wednesday evening for the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opener. With 11 first half points from senior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and a career high eight steals from junior Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) the Gulls soared to a 55-47 victory. With the triumph the Gulls continued to a 15 game winning streak with the cross-town foe. Endicott improves to 3-2 (1-0 CCC) while the Fighting Scots falls to 2-4 (0-1 CCC).
During both the men's and women's games this evening Endicott hosted a toy drive where they gathered over 400 toys that will be donated to local organizations for children in need for the holidays. Thank you to all the Endicott students and fans along with a handful of Gordon students who donated a toy tonight.
Endicott will take the court next on Saturday, December 6th where they travel to CCC foe and reining conference champions, #20/22 University of New England for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off. The Fighting Scots will hit the court next on Saturday as well as they travel to CCC opponent Wentworth for a 1:00 p.m. start.
Overall Endicott struggled from the field, but with some improved scoring in the second half they finished with 43% from inside the arc. The Fighting Scots shot best from the free throw line as they shot an impressive 75%. The Blue and Green worked hard crashing the boards as they earned 37 rebounds to Gordon's 28 while earning 13 offensive boards. Both sides took advantage of their caused turnover opportunities each scoring 17 points off turnovers.
The Endicott bench was hungry to work the offense as they scored 19 points to the Fighting Scot's zero while helping produce the 36 points in the paint.
The first half was a battle as both sides struggled from the field as Gordon shot 31.8% while the Gulls shot 30%. Endicott used their offensive opportunities on the charity mark by Whall who went 5-of-7 to tally five of her 11 point in the half.
In the opening five minutes Whall controlled the tempo as she nailed the opening six points. However the hungry Scots would slowly creep back up as the game was tied 11-11 with 11:59 remaining in the first half. After the only lead for Gordon on a two point play by Gordon's Kristen Smith (Littleton, Mass.), Endicott looked to senior Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) who drained back to back treys to take a 17-13 edge at the 7:10 mark. With some key bench points and eight steals from Cuddy the Blue and Green owned a 10 point advantage at 28-18 at the end of the first.
The second half presented better shooting for Endicott as they more than doubled their first half percentage in the field to 63.2%. Junior Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) helped bump up that percentage as she led with half with seven points earning 3-of-4 from close range. The Fighting Scots also improved their shooting as both Smith and junior Olivia Vetere (Mahopac, N.Y.) shot in double figures to outscore the Gulls 29-27 in the half.
In the opening eight minutes Catizone was on fire as she scored seven of the Gulls nine opening points. Smith and Vetere would rally the Scots and pushed for offensive opportunities as Vetere went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity mark while Smith earned 4-of-6 from close range. By the halfway mark Endicott still held a strong 41-24 point lead despite Gordon's offensive efforts.
Endicott owned their largest lead of the night at the 5:30 mark with 19 points, but Vetere would not giving up as she scored an impressive 10 points following the deficit to end the game at 55-47 in Gulls favor which marks the closest game between the two squads in their last five meetings.
