Pendergast puts Seahawks past Pilgrims, 71-55

HENNIKER, N.H. - Salve Regina University's Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) scored all 20 of her points in the second half leading the Seahawks past the New England College Pilgrims 71-55 Saturday afternoon.

With the win the Seahawks remain undefeated in TCCC play improving to 7-0 and move to 16-3 overall.  The loss drops the pilgrims to 3-4 in conference play and 10-9 on the season.

The two teams battled evenly through the opening minutes before Salve Regina exploded for a 10-2 run going up 20-11 at the 11:34 mark in the first.  The Pilgrims cut the lead to four at the six minute mark but the Seahawks had an answer grabbing their largest lead of the half up 33-22 with 3:35 on the clock.  NEC showed some life late closing out the half outscoring Salve Regina 7-1 and head into halftime trailing just 34-29.

The Pilgrims picked up where they left off in the first as they opened the second half scoring 10 straight points and go up 39-34 just three minutes in.  Salve Regina used back-to-back layups from Pendergast to regain the lead going up 50-47 midway through the half.  The Seahawks then went on a 13-0 run building their largest lead of the afternoon up 60-47 late and close out the game scoring the final six points to capture the 71-55 victory.

In addition to Pendergast, Salve Regina was led by Erin Phillips (Morristown, N.J.) who finished with 15 points and Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.) who chipped in 11 points.  Salve's Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.) was the only other Seahawk in double-figures finishing with 10 points to go along with her game-high seven assists.

Leading the way for NEC was Rachel Williams (Chapel Hill, N.C.) who finished with a team-high 16 points.  NEC's Jenna Ledy (Pickford, Mich.) was the only other Pilgrim in double-figures scoring 10 points, while Kate Levy (Woods Hole, Mass.) finished with nine points and a game-high seven rebounds.

NEC returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 2 when they host conference opponent Curry College.  Salve Regina will hit the court on Wednesday as well traveling to take on conference foe Roger Williams University.

Courtesy of New England College sports information