BEVERLY, Mass. – Bates College came away with a 65-60 win over the Endicott women's basketball team on Tuesday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium in the Gulls' final non-conference matchup of the regular season.
With the loss, Endicott is now 7-6 overall and 5-1 in the CCC, while Bates moved to 4-9 on the season and 0-2 in the NESCAC.
The Gulls led 6-2 early on, before Bates went up 12-11 on sophomore guard Lyse Henshaw's (Brunswick, Maine) layup with 4:07 remaining and jumped out to a 21-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Endicott held a brief edge, 24-23, with 5:50 left in the first half on senior guard Kelsey Cuddy's (Madison, Conn.) layup. The Bobcats then went on a 7-0 run (30-24) with 3:25 to go on free throws by junior forward Allie Coppola (Tarrytown, N.Y.) until Endicott stormed back with a 9-1 run over the next three minutes to take a 33-31 advantage into the halftime break.
The Gulls built a 37-36 lead coming out of the gates, but sophomore forward Nina Davenport (Freeport, Maine) connected on one of her four three pointers on the night to make it 39-37 at the 7:34 mark of the third to take back the lead in favor of Bates. Sophomore guard Hannah Kiernan (Wenham, Mass.) knotted the score at 39 apiece with 4:50 on the clock as the last three minutes of the quarter saw back-and-forth basketball until Bates secured a 51-46 edge as the third quarter expired.
With 3:40 remaining in regulation, the Bobcats held a nine-point lead for their largest in the game (60-51) on freshman forward Linda Herlihy's (Belmont, Mass.) layup, but that disappeared as the Gulls went on a 9-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to bring the score to a 60-60 deadlock at the 1:08 mark of the fourth quarter on a layup by junior forward Sarah Hood (Burlington, Mass.).
Junior guard Bernadette Connors (Windham, N.H.) knocked down a three-pointer with 23 seconds left to go ahead for good, 63-60, and two late free throws in the waning seconds by Davenport sealed the victory.
Sophomore forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) powered the Gulls with 20 points (second most this season) alongside seven rebounds and three assists, while Cuddy added 18 points, five rebounds, one assist, four blocks and four steals.
BEYOND THE BOX
- The game featured eight ties and 15 lead changes.
- The Bobcats outscored the Gulls, 20-13, in the third quarter, the largest margin of any quarter for Bates.
- The Gulls placed three student-athletes in double figures as Shaw (20), Cuddy (18) and Hood (11).
- Shaw hit a career-best 4-of-4 from three point range.
- Endicott scored 18 points off 20 Bates' turnovers, compared to the Bobcats' 11 points off 12 Gulls' giveaways.
- Three Gulls had a team-high seven rebounds (Coppola 7, Hood 7, Shaw 7).
FOR THE FOES
- The Bobcats placed three student-athletes in double figures as both Coppola (12 points, 16 rebounds) and Davenport (game-high 25 points, 12 rebounds) registered double-doubles and Connors chipped in 13 points.
- Bates won the battle off the glass, 47-36, as Coppola grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.
- The Bobcats has 12 second chance points compared to Endicott's three.
NOTES
- Endicott is 0-3 all-time and 0-2 at home versus Bates dating back to the 2002 season.
- The Bobcats won the most recent meeting before today, 78-53, in Beverly, Mass. on Jan. 29, 2002.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Gulls (7-6, 5-1 CCC) return to action on Thursday, January 14 at 5:30 p.m. at Wentworth, while Bates (4-9, 0-2 NESCAC) will begin a five-game homestand beginning with Hamilton on Friday, January 15 at 7:00 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.