BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott used a strong shooting effort and tight defense to stifle the Wentworth Leopards on Thursday night, firing their way to a 75-46 victory in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action at MacDonald Gymnasium. The Gulls shot 46.8 percent from the floor in improving to 7-5 on the season and collecting their fourth consecutive conference win (4-1).
Endicott shot 50 percent from the field in the first half (17-34), led by Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.). Crough made seven of her ten attempts in the first stanza, racking up 16 points. The sophomore had streaks of nine and five straight points in the period, at the end of it all giving Endicott a 21-10 lead with under nine minutes left.
The lead would continue to swell for Endicott, and a Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) buzzer beater helped Endicott double-up the Leopards, 40-20, as the teams entered the break.
The Gulls scored the first 12 points of the second half to extend their lead to 32 points. The advantage would reach 36 by the middle of the half as the Endicott bench contributed to the offensive attack, outscoring Wentworth's reserves 29-9. Ten of the twelve Gulls that played Thursday night scored at least two points and every Endicott player pulled in at least one rebound, as the hosts got the better of their opponents on the glass, 43-38.
Crough finished with 20 points on 9-15 shooting to lead the Endicott offense. Freshman Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and sophomore Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) each pitched in ten points in the effort, while Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) was tops in the rebounding category, with nine boards. Whall and McBrien each grabbed seven rebounds and McBrien finished the game with eight points and two steals.
Endicott got outstanding play from its two point guards, senior Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H.) and freshman Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.). The pair dished out six assists apiece and combined for ten points and five steals. Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) picked off four passes of her own, contributing heavily to a Gulls team that outscored their visitors 22-9 off of turnovers.
Sophomore forward Kendra Kerr (Marshfield, Mass.) had a solid, all-around night in defeat for Wentworth. Kerr matched Crough's 20 points as the game's top-scorer and was the only player on the court with a double-double, as she pulled down 12 rebounds and also picked off two passes.
Local product Jordan Biggar (Beverly, Mass.) and Danielle Miranda (Westbrook, Maine) each added six points for Wentworth, while Ashley Stowe (Voluntown, Conn.) pulled in 8 boards.
Endicott will be back on their home courts on Saturday afternoon as they continue their CCC schedule with a 3:00 pm game against Curry College. The Leopards are still looking for their first win of the season (0-11, 0-4 CCC) and will host Roger Williams earlier in the day, with tip-off set for 1:00 pm in Boston.
(Release Courtesy of Endicott Sports Information)
