Women's Hoops Fall to Regional Foe Brandeis in 2015 Opener

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted non-conference opponent Brandeis on Saturday afternoon to kick off 2015. Despite the 17 points from junior Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.), the Judges freshman Olivia Shaw (Saco, Maine) put up 20 points to give Brandeis the 79-56 edge over the Gulls. Endicott falls to 5-5 (1-2 CCC) as the Judges improve to 8-2, 0-0 UAA).

Endicott will take the court next on Tuesday, January 6th as they travel to CCC opponent Salve Regina for a 5:30 p.m. tip-off. The contest will mark the first meeting between the two CCC rivals of the season as Endicott looks to improve their conference record. The Judges will also hit the court next on Tuesday as they travel to UMass. Boston for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off.

Overall Shaw led the Judges with her impressive 20 points while Cuddy led to Gulls with 17 followed by a 15 point effort from junior Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.). Freshman Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) came in off the bench and played a huge role for the Blue and Green as she added a career high 13 points.

Endicott struggled from the field shooting 35% from inside the arc and 30% from long-range but picked up their game at the charity stripe shooting 60%. Brandeis was able to shoot 53% from the field which helped give them the offensive edge.  Both sides brought a deep bench with Brandeis putting up 25 while Endicott pulled 16. The Blue and Green forced 20 turnovers for the Judges and put up 13 points in their efforts.

The first half was controlled by the Judges as they shot 56% from the field to Endicott's 29% and adding an impressive 67% from three-point range. The Gulls did take advantage of their trips to the charity stripe shooting an impressive 75% as the Judges struggled in that category only scoring 2-of-8.  On the half junior Niki Laskaris (Swampscott, Mass.) led both sides with 11 points while Cuddy and Catizone closely trailed with 10 points each.

The lead only changed once with control by Brandeis as they earned their largest lead of 21 points at the 5:10 mark. Cuddy and Catizone were each stealthy from long range as they both nailed two while freshman Sam Charette (Wenham, Mass.) led the half with three rebounds for the Gulls. For the Judges, Shaw was also strong off the boards leading the half overall with five. By the end of the first Endicott was playing tough defense as all but one of the starting five registered a steal while Endicott's Shaw led the Gulls with two off the bench.

The second half showed a more poised group of Gulls as they kicked up their field percentage by 13% as they shot 11-of-27 (41%) with huge efforts from Shaw who led Endicott with eight points in the second. The Blue and Green picked up their defense holding the Judges to zero points from three-point range, however Brandeis kept their lead throughout the game by posting a 70% mark from the free throw line and 50% from close range.

The Gulls worked to creep back up to their opponents but their efforts were not enough as Brandeis held on without allowing Endicott to take the lead at all in the half with their largest lead of the day coming in the final seconds of regulation with a 23 point advantage.

Endicott is 0-5 all-time against the regional foe with their last meeting coming two years ago. Despite the loss the Gulls will look to move on to a packed conference matchup month starting on Tuesday night at Salve Regina.