Second-Half Surge Propels Women’s Basketball Over Western New England, 83-80

BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott women's basketball team defeated Western New England (WNE), 83-80, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Tuesday evening at the MacDonald Gymnasium.

Sarah Dempsey (Windham, N.H.) paced the Gulls with a game-high 20 points off the bench alongside five assists and three rebounds. 

Tara Laugeni (Woodbridge, Conn.) added 19 points and four dimes.

The Gulls also received double-digit performances from Emily St. Thomas (Sterling, Mass.) and Libby Fleming (Bangor, Maine.) as the duo registered 14 and 12 points, respectively. 

At halftime, Western New England led 44-36 and later led by as many as 10 points (46-36) with 9:17 in the third quarter. 

The Gulls responded by outscoring the Golden Bears 22-13 in the third quarter to produce a 58-57 advantage heading into the fourth.

Endicott capitalized on the run and seized the momentum in the contest via a 7-2 run to lead 75-70 with 2:49 remaining. The stretch was ignited by back-to-back jumpers by Dempsey and a three-pointer from Taylor Bogdanski (Sausgus, Mass.).

Laugeni (2), Dempsey (5), and St. Thomas (1) all factored into the scoring in the closing minutes to hold off a Golden Bears' rally.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott leads the all-time series, 20-12.
• The game saw seven ties and three lead changes.
• WNE finished plus-10 on the glass (39-29) but, Endicott dished out nine more assists (19-10.
• Endicott's largest lead was six points (81-75) with 39 seconds remaining. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (10-12, 8-7 CCC) welcomes Curry on Saturday, February 11 at 1:00 PM. Saturday's matchup will serve as Senior Day for the Gulls. Western New England (11-11, 9-6 CCC) hosts Salve Regina this Saturday at 1:00 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - Jonny Ratner '24)