BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Western New England on Tuesday evening for the CCC Quarterfinals. With the 18 first half points from sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) and 16 total from senior Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) the Gulls ousted the Golden Bears from the tournament 72-68. Endicott improves to 20-6, (14-4 CCC) while WNE falls to 10-16, (7-11 CCC). Tonight marked the first time since 2008-09 that Endicott earned 20 wins on the season.
The first half was a battle from the beginning as the Blue and Green just outscored the Golden Bears by five points. Endicott shot an impressive 51.9% from the field to the 37.5% by WNE, led by Cuddy who went 7-10 in close range.
In the opening minutes both sides were fighting for points as neither the Gulls nor the Golden Bears trailed by more than a basket. At the 15:57 mark Endicott got into a rhythm by scoring 7 straight points to take a 13-9 lead. Junior Samantha McCann (Warren, Mass.) answered back with a quick jumper to get back within two. After a two minute lull by both sides senior Katie Eckert (Lee, Mass.) took the lead for WNE with a deep trey followed by another jumper by McCann to make it a three point game.
The Blue and Green would not sleep for long as senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) came in off the bench to score two straight jumpers to take back the 19-18 lead with 9:34 remaining in the half. With 4:38 on the clock graduate student, Nicole Daly (Massapequa Park, N.Y.) nailed a jumper from long range to take a two point lead. However, Crough would not let the lead last for long as she tied it back up followed by five straight points from Cuddy to make it a five point game. In the final two minutes Cuddy nailed two jumpers from downtown to end the half on top 35-30.
The second half was an even bigger battle than the first as WNE outscored the Blue and Green by just one point. However, White scored an impressive 14 points in the second half alone to help hold the Gulls in the game along with Endicott's 87.5% from the charity mark.
In the opening minutes Endicott went on a short shooting spree as they scored 12 points to WNE's four as they took a 49-37 lead. Eckert ended the run with a jumper from outside the arc followed by some strong efforts by freshman Paige Young (Berlin, Conn.) in the paint to get the Golden Bears back within 10 with 11:31 remaining in regulation.
At 10:15 the Golden Bears went on a 14-3 run to get within two by the 6:03 mark. With WNE closing in White would not give up the lead as she nailed four straight points to get the lead back to six, however with a couple jumpers from WNE it was back to a two point game. For the next three minutes neither side could find the basket until 1:14 was left on the clock as McCann tied up the game a 66 apiece. With the game on the line Crough drove to the basket with 47 seconds left in the game to get the And One play to go up by three. Eckert got the Golden Bears back within one but it was not enough as White nailed three free throws in the final seconds to secure the 72-68 victory for the Gulls.
Overall Endicott shot well from all categories while picking up their free throws to an impressive 80% followed by 46.7% from the field. Senior Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) played one of her best games yet in the paint as she tallied 10 points and eight rebounds. WNE worked hard to creep back up in the second half despite the loss, as the Gulls posted a 15 point lead, while the lead changed 12 times throughout the contest.
Endicott will pick back up on Thursday as they travel to #2 Roger Williams for the Semifinal match at 7:00 p.m. Roger Williams defeated #7 Nichols this evening 71-58 to advance to the semifinals.
