Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott College women’s basketball team suffered its first set back of the new decade as the Gulls fell to cross-town foe Salem State College, 70-51, on Thursday night in non-conference action in Beverly, Mass. The Gulls and Vikings each walked away from the contest with matching records of 6-4 while Salem State has now defeated the Gulls in six of the teams’ seven matchups dating back to 2003.

The Gulls jumped out to an early 6-0 lead capped off by an \#Ashley Vitale\# (Wilmington, Mass.) jumper with just over 16 minutes to play in the opening half. Salem State used a 13-0 run over the next eight minutes to grab a seven point lead as Margaret Wallace’s (Lowell, Mass.) layup with 8:19 to play gave the Vikings a 13-6 lead.

The Gulls clawed back into the game, tying the contest at 21-all on a three-pointer from \#Ashley Wright\# (Merrimack, N.H.) and eventually regained the lead on another trifecta from Wright just over a minute later for a 24-23 advantage. Unfortunately for the Blue and Green, that would be their last lead of the game as the Vikings closed out the first half with a 10-2 run and entered the break with a 33-26 lead over the hosts.

Wright led all scorers at the intermission with nine points while Salem State’s Danielle Jenkins (Marlborough, Mass.) and Brianna Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) added six points apiece to lead the Vikings. Whitney Wilson (Lowell, Mass.) added five points and seven rebounds for Salem State and Endicott’s \#Kate Kovach\# (Moon Township, Pa.) chipped in with seven points for the Gulls.

Coming out of the half, Endicott sliced into the Vikings’ lead as a pair of free throws by \#Kaylin Burke\# (Leominster, Mass.) made it a 33-32 ballgame. However, Salem State used a huge 17-2 run to build their lead to 16 with just over 13 minutes to play in the game and regained control of the contest, 50-34. The Gulls would only get as close as 14 before the Vikings built leads in excess of 20 points en route to their third straight victory.

The Gulls shot 27.7% from the field in the game compared to 40% for the visitors while Salem State also held the edge in points in the paint (28-20), second chance points (20-10), and bench points (23-6). The Vikings controlled the glass with a 46-41 edge in rebounds while committing one less turnover than the Gulls.

Endicott was led by Burke’s 13 points and three assists while Wright and Kovach each added 11 for the hosts while \#Ceciley Chisholm\# (Lexington, Mass.) grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Salem State was led by 18 points from Amy Barry (Manchester, N.H.), who connected on 4-of-8 attempts from behind the arc, and 17 points and seven rebounds from Danielle Jenkins. Jakoya Williams (Dorchester, Mass.) had an all-around effort with a game-high 11 assists to go along with eight rebounds and three steals while Whitney Wilson came off the bench to record a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

The Blue and Green return to action on Saturday afternoon as the Gulls begin TCCC action against Eastern Nazarene College at 1:00 p.m. in Quincy, Mass. Salem State has the weekend off before it begins conference play as well with a MASCAC game on Tuesday against MCLA at 6:00 p.m.