Gulls Fall To Emmanuel Despite Second Half Surge

BOSTON, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team traveled to Boston on Tuesday night for a non-conference matchup against Emmanuel. Despite the 17 points from senior Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) and 16 from junior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) the Gulls could not hold on as they fell to the Saints 63-52. Endicott moves to 5-2 (2-0 CCC) while the Saints stand at 6-3 (0-0 GNAC).

The first half was controlled by the Saints as they outscored the Gulls 39-21. With nine minutes left on the clock the Blue and Green were down 3-22. Saint's juniors Britni Mikulanecz (Portland, Maine) and Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) came up big in the rally while Whall led the Gulls in scoring with seven but the squad struggled from inside the arc only shooting 23.1%. In the final minutes Crough, junior Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) and senior Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) picked up their game to cut down the lead to 18 to enter halftime.

The late surge in the first half carried over to the second as Endicott took control outscoring the Saints 31-24 and making an 11-2 run in the opening minutes. Crough led the half in scoring with 12 points with strong efforts off the boards from sophomore Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) who made seven rebounds. The Blue and Green held Emmanuel to shooting 31.8% from mid-range while causing 12 turnovers and making seven steals.

With ten minutes left on the clock the Blue and Green cut down the lead to seven after a quick two layups from Whall and Crough. At 8:42 Head Coach Brittany Hutchinson called a timeout and sent five back onto the court ready to give it their all in the remaining minutes of the half. Cuddy made a much needed long range jumper to make it a 49-42 game.

When it came down to it the Saints could not help creating fouls on the Gulls who have been solid from the free throw line all season. After four consecutive free throws it was still a seven point game as the Saints managed to get some points on the board with efforts from junior Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.).

In the final two minutes Endicott worked hard but their efforts were not enough as the Saints team, who jumped off the top 25 poll two weeks ago, came out with the 63-52 victory.

Overall the squad made a great come back but just fell short. The offensive unit was strong in the paint scoring 18 points while earning 10 second chance points. The Gulls looked to their bench for a spark which posted 21 points on the night. Cuddy made an impressive 10 rebounds while senior Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) came up with nine.

Endicott will take a break until after the Holiday where they will then travel back to Boston for a non-conference matchup against MIT on December 29^th at 2:00 p.m.