Gulls get ahead early against Seahawks

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Salve Regina on Tuesday night. Five Gulls scored in double figures while junior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) tallied a double-double in the 79-50 victory over the Seahawks. The win moves the Gulls into good standing in the conference as they now advance to 7-3, (3-1 CCC) while Salve Regina falls to 4-6, (2-2).

The Blue and Green came out strong right from the beginning as they outscored the Seahawks 46-21 in the first half. In the opening minutes the game was tight going point for point with two back to back jumpers for Salve Regina by senior Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.). However the Gulls took control at 13:39 and scored nine consecutive unanswered points to make it an 18-8 game.

After another quick layup from Pendergast that broke the nine point run the Blue and Green went on another nine point streak with big points from senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) and sophomore Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) to increase the lead to 17 with 6:54 remaining in the half.

The Seahawks broke the run with a layup from sophomore Meaghan Harden (Sandwich, Mass.) but it was not enough to give Salve Regina a boost as Endicott proceeded to make another nine consecutive points, four being from sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) and three a piece from Catizone and junior Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.). In the final two minutes of play the Gulls tallied eight points to the Seahawks five to make it a 46-26 game to enter halftime.

The Gulls were dominant in all scoring fields posting an impressive 62.5% from long range along with 84.6% from the charity mark while shooting 15-32 inside the arch. Cuddy led the half in points with 12 while Whall posted eight rebounds.

The second half was a closer match on the scoreboard as the Gulls only outscored Salve Regina by four points. The Seahawks came out with a spark that lit through the entire team as they only allowed the Blue and Green to make it to the free throw line four times, compared to the 13 times in the first half.In the opening minutes both teams were battling as they went bucket for bucket with important points from Crough who made it a 29 point game at 16:59 after tallying two layups back to back. At the halfway mark Whall came up big as she posted nine points in nearly three minutes to make at a 64-32 score in Endicott's favor.

At the 13:00 minutes both sides lost focus as neither team scored for five minutes and posted a cumulative six turnovers. In the final minutes of the game the Seahawks put up 10 points to the Gulls eight but it was not enough as the Blue and Green came out victorious with a final score of 79-50.The half was led by Whall with 10 points and five rebounds while the squad shot 45.2% from inside the arch. At the 8:44 mark in the second Endicott posted an impressive largest lead of 35. As a whole the Blue and Green were strong in the paint posting 34 points while the bench came up big for the second game in a row posting 37 points.

The victory was a team effort for the Gulls who last year fell to the Seahawks by 22 points. In the last six meetings between the two teams they are tied a three.

Endicott will tip off next on Thursday, January 9, when they travel for the first time in 2014 to Roger Williams for a 5:30 p.m. start. Salve Regina will also compete on Thursday as the host CCC opponent UNE for a 5:30 p.m. tip off.