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DUDLEY, Mass. – The Endicott Gulls women's basketball team led early and then again down the stretch, overcoming a strong effort by host Nichols College to emerge with a 56-51 victory on Tuesday night.
The Gulls get back over the .500 mark, improving their record to 6-5, with a 3-1 mark in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC).
Freshman Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) led the Gulls with eleven points and also pulled in eight rebounds. She was joined in double-digit scoring by sophomores Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) and Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.), who each poured in ten points and also contributed eight rebounds apiece. Whall added four steals while White stuffed the stat sheet with three assists, three steals and two blocks.
Endicott did not trail for the first eleven minutes of the game until a three-pointer by Natalie Wilson (Bedford, N.H.) gave the Bison the lead. Wilson was 2-5 for Nichols, who shot just 27 percent from the floor, including 4-19 from behind the three-point line. Endicott battled back and took a four point advantage, 26-22 by the break.
The Bison would not go away, taking a three-point lead with just over fourteen minutes to play in the second half, but Endicott would take the lead for good a few minutes later, helped by a fast break layup by Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.).
Nichols was led in scoring by Alexis Wegrzynek (Wilbraham, Mass.), who tallied 13 points and Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.), who had a solid night with 12 points and 11 boards, tops on her squad. Wergrzynek also had six steals, while Kasey Pelletier (Dunstable, Mass.) dished out six assists to go with the same number of points.
Endicott outrebounded Nichols 48-42, but the Bison had a 19-16 advantage on the offensive glass. Senior captain Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H.) had eight rebounds of her own, to go with six points, two assists and a steal for the Gulls.
The Gulls will continue a busy week on Thursday when they host Wentworth at 6:00 pm. Nichols (3-8, 2-2 CCC) will travel to Eastern Nazarene at the same time for another conference test.
