Endicott Comes Up Short as Salve Regina Repeats as Women's Basketball Champions

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NEWPORT, R.I. – The fourth seeded Endicott women's basketball team saw their postseason run come to a close on Saturday afternoon as they were beaten 77-61 by the Salve Regina Seahawks in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tournament championship game at Rodgers Recreation Center.

Endicott got 19 points from sophomore Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) and 16 points from Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.), but it wasn't enough as the second-seeded Seahawks win their second consecutive CCC title and its seventh title in 11 years.

Endicott's lone senior Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H.) dished out six assists and grabbed three steals, while also co-leading the team with 8 rebounds, equaling the work done on the boards by Jen White.

The Seahawks were led by senior Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.) who scored 20 points on 10-19 shooting, while also registering six blocks. The senior was 7-10 from the field in the first half and  her 14 points before the break helped the Seahawks to a 39-29 halftime lead.

Endicott started the second half on an 8-2 run to close the gap on the 10-point halftime deficit and cut the Salve lead to 41-37 with less than 17 minutes to play. Endicott got as close as three points at 49-46 when White converted a layup with 12:44 remaining in the second half.

The Gulls were unable to cut any more into the Salve Regina lead, however, as Laura Anne Dinan (Monterey, Mass.) and Salve Regina began to light up the scoreboard as the second half wore on.

Dinan was lights-out from behind the arc in the second half, shooting 4-5 and scoring 14 of her 16 points after the break, and two quick strikes from downtown by the freshman restored a nine point advantage for the defending champions.

The Gulls went cold from downtown in the second half, shooting just 2-9, while Salve shot 40%, at 4-10.

In the first half, Salve Regina went on a 21-8 run to take a ten point lead at 23-13, a run that was kicked off by consecutive layups from Kaitlyn Birrell (Scituate, R.I.) and then two more lay-ins from Shorey. Birrell put in 16 points in the contest and led all players with seven assists, while grabbing three steals.

Endicott relied on strong three-point shooting in the first half to keep themselves in the game. The Gulls shot 5-9 (55%) from behind the arc, led by White, who was 3-4 from downtown.

Salve, however, shot 45% from the field in the first half and were able to keep their margin at double-digits thanks to late layups from sophomore Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.).

Pendergast had 13 points for Salve, who had four players in double-figures. The Seahawks out rebounded the Gulls 43-37, including an 11-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The hosts also had a 28-12 margin in points in the paint.

Freshman Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) scored nine points for Endicott, while sophomore Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) scored five points and grabbed six rebounds while registering a steal and two blocks.

Endicott was making their third appearance in the CCC finals, but has still been unable to capture the school's first conference victory. EC was beaten by Salve Regina in their last finals appearance in 2009.

The Gulls fall to 17-11 on the year and will await the selections of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament, which will come out on Monday afternoon.

The Seahawks improve to 19-9 on the year and will earn the CCC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA selection show is set for Monday as well.