QUINCY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team traveled to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent, Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday evening. Despite a career high 22 points from junior Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) and a breakout performance by freshman Sam Charette (Wenham, Mass.) who totaled 21 points, the Gulls dropped a 95-86 decision. Endicott falls to 3-4 (1-2 CCC) while the Lions tab their first victory of the season and sit at 1-7 (1-2 CCC).
Endicott will take the court next on Thursday, December 11th as they host non-conference opponent MIT at 7:00 p.m. for the final home game of December. The Lions will take the court next in the New Year on January 3rd when they host non-conference foe Daniel Webster at 1:00 p.m.
Overall the Lions shot 53% from the field while second half efforts bumped the Gulls up to 47% as a whole. As they have all season the Blue and Green continued to be stealthy from the free throw line shooting 62% led by Charette who put up an impressive 5-of-8.
The Lions crashed the boards as they earned 49 rebounds to Endicott's 31 while earning 22 second chance points. Both sides did work the paint offensively as Endicott put up 40 points while Eastern Nazarene made 44. Overall Endicott and the Lions took advantage of turnovers as the Blue and Green totaled 26 points off turnovers while the Lions put up 25.
The first half was a battle as the Lions just outscored the Gulls 49-37. Charette led the Blue and Green with 11 points and four rebounds while junior Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) followed with 10 points.
Eastern Nazarene controlled the boards as they picked up 30 total rebounds to Endicott's 14. From the field the Lions shot a solid 51% followed by 50% from long-range, led by juniors Nicole Greer (Odenton, Md.) and Mhiah Vickers (Westlake Village, Calif.) who each posted 12 points in the half. The Gulls struggled from the field only scoring 11-of-31 from inside the arc and 2-of-9 from beyond.
The Endicott offense did force 13 Eastern Nazarene fouls and put up 62% from the charity stripe to earn 13 of their 37 points in the first half. Defensively the Blue and Green were led by Cuddy (who made four steals in the half to go along with her nine points.
The second half posted two strong games from each side as they battled bucket for bucket with Endicott earning the 49-46 advantage. The Blue and Green picked up their game inside the arc shooting over 20% better while scoring 6-of-9 from long range.
Cuddy posted an impressive second half as she scored 13 points and seven rebounds and three steals while senior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) also posted 13 points with six rebounds. Late in the second half the Blue and Green pushed for a comeback coming within as close as four points with a couple key jumpers from long range by Whall but the Lions were able to hold on to the lead to secure the victory.
