KEENE, N.H. — A career-high night for junior guard Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) carried the Endicott women's basketball team to its first win of the season, 67-57, over host  Keene St. College Tuesday evening in non-conference action between familiar foes.

In a rematch of Saturday's Skidmore College Invitational game, Coppola set new career-highs with 19 points and seven steals (both game-highs).

It was a  back-and-forth affair early on as the teams traded baskets before Endicott was able to create some space and go up 19-12 at the end of the first quarter and 21-12 with 9:13 to go before the half.

Keene St. closed the gap to 27-25 in favor of Endicott with 2:55 to play in the opening half, but the Gulls were able to cling to a 31-28 advantage heading into the break.

A 31-31 tied  score at 9:19 in the third quarter gave way to a 13-0 run for the Gulls over the next 2:19 of play. Endicott led, 43-31, on junior guard Hannah Kiernan's (Wenham, Mass.) jumper with 7:00 left in the frame for the Gulls' second-largest lead of the game.

Heading into the final quarter of play with a 51-43 lead over Keene St., an eight-point deficit was the closest the Owls would come the rest of the way as Endicott celebrated its first win of the season.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls placed three student-athletes in double figures as Kiernan added 12 points for the third time this season (second consecutive) and junior forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) chipped in 11 points to go along with Coppola's game-high/career-high 19 points.
• Shaw has registered double-digit scoring in each of the Gulls' four games this season.
• Coppola recorded a career-high seven steals, which is the third-most registered in a single game in program history. (Nine is the most, held by Kelsey Cuddy & Ashley Wright.)
• Kiernan dished out a team-high/career-high seven assists.
• Endicott was able to spread the ball around as Coppola had seven points in the first half to lead the Gulls, while Kiernan and sophomore guard Catie Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) each had six. Shaw and senior forward Sarah Hood (Burlington, Mass.) both contributed five points in the first half.
• Endicott's largest lead of the game was 14 points with 54 seconds left in the game.
• Endicott's 20 points in the third quarter was a game-high, as the Gulls also scored a third quarter-best 24 points in the previous meeting against the Owls.
• The Gulls put up season-high numbers in points (67), field goal percentage (47.3), assists (19), steals (12), blocks (5).

FOR THE FOES

• Sophomore guard Emily McPadden (Tyngsborough, Mass.) led the floor with eight points in the first half and finished with a team-high 16 at the end of the night for Keene St.
• Junior guard Lydia Vital (Cambridge, Mass.) registered a game-high eight assists.
• Senior forward Amanda Petrow (Methuen, Mass.) grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to tie for a game-high with Endicott's Kiernan.
• The Owls turned the ball over 22 times compared to the Gulls' 15, but scored 21 points off turnovers to Endicott's 19.
• Keene St. led by as much as three (7-4) on junior guard Sandi Purcell's (Hudson, N.H.) trey with 6:27 remaining in the first quarter.

NOTES

• Endicott is 2-7 in the all-time series versus Keene St., as tonight's victory snapped a three-game skid against the Owls.
• Endicott and Keene St. split the regular season meetings this year as the Owls won, 72-60, in the most recent meeting before today on 11/19/16 in the Skidmore College Invitational.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (1-3, 0-0 CCC) is off for the Thanksgiving Break and will return to the hardwood as the team opens its Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) slate on Wednesday, November 30 at 5:30 p.m. against Curry in the Gulls' home opener inside MacDonald Gymnasium.

Keene St. (2-2, 0-0 LEC) takes on host Rensselaer on Tuesday, November 29 at 6:00 p.m. 

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