BEVERLY, Mass. – It looked as though Endicott would cruise to victory in their women's basketball home opener on Wednesday night at MacDonald Gymnasium, but it took a late stand to stave off a Salve Regina comeback and seal a 59-57 win for the Blue and Green.
For Endicott, the win marks the first time they have started a season 4-0 and is also a bit of payback against the Seahawks, who defeated the Gulls in last year's CCC title game, and now fall to 1-2 on the season.
Junior Sam Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) led Endicott's shooting efforts, scoring 22 points on 11-22 shooting to top all scorers. Senior point guard Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) dished out 12 assists, many of them to Crough, and grabbed ten rebounds, while also shooting 50% from the floor (4-8) and scoring eight points.
As they had for much of the game, Endicott led by 13 points with under five minutes to play in the second half when a jumper by Crough made the score 59-46 in favor of the home team, but the Seahawks made life difficult down the stretch with an 11-0 run, coming up just short of tying the score.
Five of those Salve Regina points were scored by Kaitlyn Lendrum (El Dorado Hills, Calif.), who, with 11 points, was one of three Seahawk players in double figures. The visitors were led by freshman Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.), who tallied 17 points on 7-12 shooting, including 5-9 in a second half where Salve Regina shot 52.9% from the floor.
The Gulls had their shooting touch in the first half, shooting 44% from the field, while also hitting 4-8 from behind the three-point line. Salve, on the other hand, struggled early on, hitting just 7-41 (17%) and missing all five of their three-point attempts before the break, at which Endicott led 36-15.
The Gulls controlled the first half from early on, leading 11-1 and 13-3, and then went on an 8-0 run to open up a 21-3 advantage after ten minutes of play. Salve closed the gap to twelve points at 21-12, but Endicott ended the first half on another eight point run, 10-2, and equaled their largest advantage of the first half with their 21 point halftime lead.
Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.), who scored eight points, had two three-pointers in the first half, while sophomore Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) added ten points of her own and was perfect from downtown, hitting a trey in each half.
Rebounds were nearly identical between the sides at 45-44 Endicott, though Salve had a 19-13 edge on the offensive glass. Crough had nine boards and Whall and White each pitched in with eight.
Endicott also had seven blocks under the basket, three of them by Crough, while Salve Regina's Marrissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) and Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) each had four steals to lead all players.
Pendergast was the other Seahawk in double-figures with 12 points and with 9 rebounds, her and ten from senior Allison Pigoga (Exeter, R.I.) led the Seahawks on the glass.
The Gulls have another important CCC contest at home this Saturday afternoon, when they welcome Roger Williams to town for a 1:00 pm contest.
Salve Regina will face a showdown with University of New England on Saturday in another big CCC contest.
