Gulls Leap Back Into Win Column Over Nichols

DUDLEY, Mass. – Endicott returned to its winning ways on Thursday night with a complete effort en route to an important 70-51 road victory over Nichols in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action.

Endicott (12-8, 8-5 CCC), looking to snap a three-game losing streak,  led by as many as 29 points in the second half as they set a new season-high for points scored and had four players score in double-figures.

The Gulls shot 40% from the field and 7-18 (38.9%) on three-point attempts and were dominating on the boards, out-rebounding the Bison 53-31, including a 23-12 edge on the offensive glass.

 Juniors Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) and Sam Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) led the hot shooting for the Gulls, with each firing over 50% from the field.

Crough shot 6-11 from the floor and poured in 13 points with two steals and two assists, while White was 3-5 from behind the three-point line and contributed 11 points and seven rebounds on the day that she was named to the CoSIDA Captial One Academic All-District First Team.

Endicott senior guard Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) flirted with a double-double, as she dished out 9 assists and led Endicott's effort on the glass with 9 rebounds.

Sarah Whitestone (Dalton, Mass.) and Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.) had twelve points apiece to lead the Bison, who shot 36% from the field and made one of their four three-point attempts. Zophin also had a game-high eight caroms for the hosts.

After coming out of the first half with a 42-28 lead, Endicott used a 14-6 run to start the second half, in which White and Crough both hit three-pointers and got into double-figures.

Sophomore Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) hit her final total of 11 points with a layup to give Endicott a 58-36 advantage with 13:40 to play and that sparked another 9-0 run for the Gulls, who built their lead to 29 points and then maintained that advantage when Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) converted a layup to reach her 11^th point, where she would also finish the game.

Manning was instrumental in the Gulls building their lead in the first half, as she tallied 9 points on 4-7 shooting and collected five rebounds in just twelve minutes of play in the opening frame.

Whall had nine points in the first half and helped get Endicott off to a seven point lead in the opening minutes before White (8 first-half points) and Manning chipped in as well. Back to back three-pointers by White gave Endicott their biggest lead of the half, a 16 point advantage with under three minutes before the break.

Gulls forward Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) had three of Endicott's eleven steals, scored five points and grabbed seven rebounds off the bench, while junior guard Ashley Walenta (Plainfield, Conn.) added seven points and dished out three assists.

Bison junior Devon Spirka (Wilmington, Vt.) had nine points in a losing effort for Nichols.

Endicott stays on the road this weekend when they travel  to Springfield for a 1:00 pm game against Western New England University on Saturday afternoon.

Nichols (6-13, 3-10 CCC) will hit the road themselves for a matchup in Boston against the Leopards of Wentworth Institute of Technology at the same time.