BEVERLY, Mass. – Behind three double-figure scorers, including 14 from senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.), the Endicott College women's basketball team clinched the number three seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference Women's Basketball Tournament with a 73-49 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology.
With the win the Gulls up their record to 18-6 (13-4 CCC) while the Leopards fall to 7-16 (4-13).
The first half was a battle between both sides as they fought for points on the scoreboard. Sophomore Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) came in off the bench for the Blue and Green and tallied 11 points to help give the Gulls an edge entering halftime.
In the opening minutes the Leopards and Endicott were battling back and forth answering each other's baskets. At 14:52 sophomore Carly Rogers (Scarborough, Maine) gave Wentworth its first lead of the night after hitting back to back layups. Catizone answered back two minutes later from long range to take back the lead. After a three of four made field goals from the Gulls, sophomore Megan McLaughlin (Southington, Conn.) gave the Leopards their last lead of the contest (12-11) at the 9:59 mark with a deep trey.
Over the final eight minutes of the first half the Blue and Green outscored Wentworth 26-17 with nine points coming from Catizone along with points from Crough, junior Kayleekn Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.). In the final two minutes Whall and Catizone hit two back to back jumpers to give the hosts a 39-27 halftime edge.
The second half was controlled by the Gulls as they outscored the Leopards by 16 points led by sophomore McKenzie Farguharson (West Haven, Conn.) who tallied eight points off the bench. Defensively Endicott held Wentworth to shooting 29.6 percent from the floor and would shoot 50 percent.
Senior Shannon Quinn (Exeter, N.H.) started the scoring for the Blue and Green by opening up the half with a pair of jumpers, one being from long range to take an early 11-point lead. Sophomore Rachael Camara (Fall River, Mass.) came right back with a trey to cut the lead to 10 at the 17:31 mark. Endicott led 53-42 with 10:00 left after a senior Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) jumper had cut the lead to 11. However, the Gulls outscored the Leopards by a 20-7 margin over the final 10:00 to take the win.
Forty-two of Endicott's 73 points came from the Gulls' bench as they would outscore the Leopard reserves by a 42-2 margin. The Gulls also held a 44-35 edge on the glass.
Kerr led the Leopards with a game-high 17 points to along with nine rebounds and four steals. McLaughlin scored nine points and had three assists, while Camara added eight points, seven rebounds, and three steals.
Both teams conclude the regular season on Saturday. Endicott is at Western New England while Wentworth hosts Nichols. The Leopards need a win or an Eastern Nazarene loss to Gordon to clinch their second straight spot in the CCC Tournament.
(Portions of this recap courtesy of Endicott Sports Information)