KEENE, N.H. – The Endicott women's basketball team finished their season opening weekend on Saturday afternoon in their second contest of the Keene State Tip-Off Tournament. The Gulls earned their first victory on Friday, and earned a spot in the tournament championship where they faced Keene State. Senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) earned the first Endicott double-double on the season as she tallied 20 points and 11 boards in the 67-59 victory. The Gulls are now 2-0 on the season while the Owls fall to 1-1.
The first half was very back and forth, but the Gulls held a small lead for the entire half despite only shooting 31.2% from the field to the Owls 35.3%. Crough led the half with 10 points and five rebounds, following in her stead senior Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) tallied six points while sophomore Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) earned five points. Senior Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) crashed the boards hard earning five rebounds and four points.
The Blue and Green worked hard forcing fouls as they dominated the free throw line shooting 83.3% from the line, where the Owls struggled only shooting 50%. With 14 minutes to go in the frame the Blue and Green were held scoreless for just over three minutes, but they also held Keene to no points during the stalemate. Catizone ended the three minute plunge as she made a quick jumper to tale a 13-10 lead.
With four minutes remaining Crough stole the ball from freshman Sarah Kober (East Hampton, Mass.) and made a quick pass to Catizone down the floor who forced a foul to get to the line where she went 1-1 for the 20-17 lead. With two minutes on the clock, Catizone went at it again as she picked off sophomore Ryanne Williams (Norwell, Mass.) and dribbled down the court to take a much needed shot from beyond the arch to give Endicott a 27-21 advantage. With a couple plays from juniors Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) the Gulls had a 31-26 lead entering halftime.
The second half was similar to the first as the Blue and Green led for the entire 20 minutes of play. Crough earned 11 points in the half while crashing the boards with six rebounds. The Gulls showed that their strongest weapon in the first half was their ability to score from the free throw line but in the second half it seemed to be a struggle as they only shot 64.7%. However they would make up for it from the field as they outshot the Owls 36-33.
With nine minutes remaining in the game Endicott earned their biggest lead of the night after two big free throws from Crough and a huge three-pointer from Catizone that gave the squad a 17 point lead. The Owls slowly crept back up getting back within 10 points with 1:22 left on the clock, but the push would not be enough as the Gulls took the 67-59 victory to close out the tournament and complete a great start of the season.
Overall Endicott worked hard at the line scoring 21-29 free throw attempts and made 40 total rebounds and seven steals as a whole to end the night.
The Gulls will look ahead to Tuesday, November 19th where they travel to Bowdoin for a 7:00 p.m. tip off. The Owls will also travel on the 19th as they head to Amherst for a 7:00 p.m. start.
