SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – A 20-point effort by sophomore guard Emily Pratt (Gardner, Mass.) led the Endicott women's basketball team to a 56-47 victory over Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) rival Western New England on Tuesday evening.
After falling behind after the first quarter, Pratt catapulted the Gulls over the next two quarters by scoring 14 of her game-high 20 points. The guard would hit 8-of-15 attempts from the floor as well as all four free throw attempts to lead all scorers. Four rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block also filled the box score for Pratt.
Endicott turned a four-point deficit after the opening 10 minutes into a five point advantage by outscoring the Golden Bears 21-12 in the second quarter. Pratt netted six points in the second and with the help of freshman guard and four-time CCC Rookie of the Week Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.), who scored six points as well, Endicott took a 27-25 lead into the halftime break.
Endicott led 42-35 at the start of the fourth quarter and thanks to a seven-point outburst by senior forward Sam Charette (Wenham, Mass.), the Gulls went on to hold off Western New England 56-47 on the road. Charette finished the game with nine points off the bench.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott improved to 14-9 all-time against Western New England and has won their last three games against the Golden Bears
- Endicott has now swept the season series with Western New England
- Senior guard Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) played all 40 minutes in the game and finished with seven points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals
- The Gulls held Western New England to just 38.5 percent shooting from the field as well as 15.4 percent from beyond the arc
FOR THE FOES
- Leading all Golden Bears scorers was junior guard Caroline Niland (Waltham, Mass.) with nine points off the bench
- Sophomore forward Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) nearly had a double-double with eight points and 10 boards
- After winning six out of seven CCC games in the month of January, Western New England has now lost three in-a-row
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (11-9, 9-4 CCC) begins the month of February and their path to the conference playoffs with a home game on Saturday, February 3 at 1:00 PM. Western New England (12-8, 8-5 CCC) looks to rebound on Saturday at Gordon for a 1:00 PM tip-off.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
