(Courtesy of Endicott College Sports Information)
BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott College's Ceciley Chisholm (Lexington, Mass.) scored a career-high 29 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as the Gulls defeated the Wentworth Institute of Technology, 62-53, on Saturday afternoon in The Commonwealth Coast Conference basketball action in Beverly, Mass. Endicott improves to 11-5 this season and 4-1 in the TCCC while Wentworth dips below .500 at 8-9 overall and 4-1 in conference games.
Endicott jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the first four minutes of play, but the Leopards responded with an 8-0 run of their own to knot the game at 8-8 with 15:23 to play in the first half. The teams would trade baskets over the next few possessions before Wentworth grabbed a seven point lead, capped off by a Jessie Coffey (Wakefield, R.I.) layup with just over seven minutes to play in the opening stanza. The Gulls cut the lead to one on a Chisholm layup before the Leopards closed out the half with a 12-3 run for a 32-23 halftime lead.
The first half saw a pair of ties as well as five lead changes. WIT's Ashley Conway (Danvers, Mass.) led all scorers at the break as she connected on 3-of-5 shots from beyond the arc. Kirsten Vallone (Avon, N.Y.) grabbed 10 rebounds in the half while also adding eight points.
The Gulls, who shot only 25% from the field in the frame, were led by Chisholm's eight points and six rebounds while Ashley Wright (Merrimack, N.H.) grabbed four steals.
Coming out of the break, a Vallone layup gave Wentworth its largest lead of the game at 35-23. However, Endicott would fight back over the next seven minutes as the Gulls used a 16-3 run, including seven points from Chisholm, to grab a three point lead with 11:31 remaining in regulation.
Wentworth tied the game at 44-all with 8:43 to play, but the Gulls slowly pulled away, as Ashley Wright's three-ball gave Endicott the lead for good at 53-48. The Gulls nailed their free-throws down the stretch to grab a crucial conference victory over a Wentworth team that entered the contest tied atop the leader board in the TCCC.
Ceciley Chisholm led all scorers with her career-high 29 points while going 11-of-15 from the free-throw line and also adding a team-high 13 rebounds. Ashley Wright joined Chisholm in double figures with 12 points and game-highs in steals (8) and assists (5). Endicott's Ashley Vitale (Wilmington, Mass.) also chipped in with 10 points before fouling out late in the second half.
Wentworth was led by a double-double from Kirsten Vallone with 10 points and a game-high 18 rebounds. Ashley Conway added 11 points while Jessie Coffey came off the bench to score nine points and add three rebounds and three assists.
Endicott finished the game shooting an ice-cold 28.1% but made 23 of their 30 free-throw attempts (76.7%). The Gulls also held the edge in rebounds (47-38) and won the turnover battle by forcing 23 Wentworth missteps and converted them into 17 points.
The Blue and Green try to make it four-straight wins on Thursday night as the Gulls travel to Bristol, R.I. for a TCCC matchup with Roger Williams University. Wentworth returns home on Thursday night when the Leopards host Salve Regina University at 5:30 p.m. in Boston, Mass.
