BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Endicott women's basketball team battled host University of New England to a 79-68 defeat in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play Tuesday night inside Harold Alfond Forum.
Endicott saw its three-game win streak come to an end and suffered its first conference loss of the season, despite senior forward Sarah Hood's (Burlington, Mass.) monster night off the glass with a career-high 20 rebounds.
UNE broke a 2-2 tie with 7:29 remaining in the first quarter and led the rest of the way en route to their 21st consecutive conference victory.
The Gulls nearly erased a 22-15 deficit at the end of the first quarter by out-scoring the Nor'easters, 15-11, in the second stanza. Endicott got as close one (31-30) with 1:31 to go, before UNE got a bucket as time expired to head into halftime with a 33-30 advantage.
The Nor'easters created some separation in the third quarter and led by as much as 14 (65-51) with 7:06 left in the game. Endicott tried to narrow the gap down the stretch, trailing 71-65 with 2:53 to play.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott placed a season-high five student-athletes in double figures as the starting five all landed in double digits headlined by freshman guard Emily Pratt (Gardner, Mass.).
- Pratt set a new career-high and junior forward Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) led the Gulls with 13 points apiece.
- Hood grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds and added a season-high 12 points for her second double-double of the season.
- Hood's game-high 20 rebounds (nine offensive, 11 defensive) is the second-most in Endicott single-game program history, behind only Kayleen Whall's 23 against Rivier on 11/16/14
- 20 rebounds is the most by any CCC women's basketball student-athlete this season and is sixth-most in the nation this season (tied for 14th place).
- Junior guard Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) chipped in 12 points, while junior guard Hannah Kiernan (Wenham, Mass.) contributed a season-high 12 points.
FOR THE FOES
- First-year guard Ashley Coneys (Dover, N.H.) notched a game-high 24 points for a new career-high.
- Senior center Alicia Brown (Greenland, N.H.) registered a double-double with 18 points and a team-high 13 rebounds.
- Sophomore guard Kristie McNall (Wakefield, Mass.) scored a career-high 16 points off the bench.
- UNE scored 25 second-chance points compared to Endicott's 13.
- The Nor'easters have won three games in a row and are 21-1 in conference play dating back to the Feb. 21, 2014 when they last lost a conference game (L, 74-68 in overtime against Roger Williams in the 2014 regular-season finale).
- UNE is now a perfect 50-0 versus CCC competition at the Harold Alfond Forum since the facility opened in 2012.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (3-4, 2-1 CCC) hosts No. 14 Bowdoin College on Thursday, December 8 at 7:30 p.m. in non-conference action.
University of New England (6-2, 3-0 CCC) welcomes No. 1 nationally-ranked Tufts University to its campus for a 1:00 tip off on Saturday, December 10. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
