DUDLEY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team traveled to Nichols on Thursday night for a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup. After a double figure game by freshmen duo, Sam Charette (Wenham, Mass.) and Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine), the Gulls earned their first victory of 2015 with their 64-54 triumph. Endicott improves to 6-8 (2-5 CCC) while the Bison fall to 4-9 (1-5 CCC).
Endicott will take the court next on Saturday, January 17th as they travel to Western New England for a CCC matchup at 1:00 p.m. The Bison will also tip-off next on Saturday as they travel to CCC foe Wentworth for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.
In just her fourth double figure game of the season, Charette led both sides with 17 points while fellow rookie Shaw, followed with her 13 point effort. Overall Endicott shot 45% from the field to the Bison's 29% while struggling from long range shooting just 15%. The Blue and Green posted 16-of-27 from the charity stripe while Nichols scored 11 points from the free throw line.
The Blue and Green worked to keep control of the tempo as the lead only changed four times throughout the 40 minutes of play, as Endicott held its largest lead of 15 in the final minutes of regulation. Backing up their consistency from the bench, the Gulls put up 15 points, which was led by the 13 points from Shaw.
The Bison did play tough defense causing the Gulls to make 21 turnovers while taking advantage by scoring 16 points while Endicott only put up eight points on the 16 Bison miscues. Led by senior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) who posted an impressive 13 boards, Endicott out-rebounded their opponents 50-38. With the help from Charette and Shaw, the Gulls managed to put up an impressive 42 points in the paint to the 30 from the Bison.
The first half was controlled by the Gulls as they outscored Nichols 33-20 led by the 10 point effort from Charette while Whall crashed with boards with nine. The Blue and Green shot 47% from the field and 44% from the charity stripe while the Bison struggled from inside the arc with their 28% mark and 0% scoring from long-range. Senior Amber Litwinko (Berlin, Conn.) kept Nichols within reach with her 10 points and four rebounds in the half.
The second half was a bigger battle as Endicott worked to keep their lead from the first half as Nichols outscored the Blue and Green by three points. Junior duo, Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) and Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) each posted a strong second half to keep the Gulls in check with seven points from Catizone and six from Cuddy. For the Bison senior Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.) led with her 11 points followed by 10 points from sophomore Taylor Daniels (Dudley, Mass.) which helped keep the hungry Bison in the game.
Endicott worked the keep their lead with some big plays from Charette who was 3-of-6 from the field followed by Catizone who tallied 2-of-3. Both Cuddy and senior Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) posted a strong game from the charity stripe as Wright led with 4-of-5 followed by 4-of-6 from Cuddy which helped the Gulls take the 10 point edge and 64-54 victory.
With the triumph Endicott snapped their four-game losing streak to claim their first victory of 2015. The Gulls look forward to battling with Western New England on Saturday. The Blue and Green will enter Saturday's matchup 10-5 all-time with the Golden Bears.
