Women's Basketball Outlasts UNE, 59-57 (OT)

BIDDEFORD, Maine — The Endicott women's basketball team overcame an eight point fourth quarter deficit to top UNE, 59-57, in Wednesday evening's Conference of New England (CNE) overtime battle at the Harold Alfond Forum.

Cora Nadeau (Newport, Vt.) highlighted the Gulls' efforts with an 18-point (6-16 FG, 5-14 3PT), five-rebound performance. 

Emma Shinney (Wakefield, Mass.) filled the stat sheet with her 13 points (2-4 3PT), eight rebounds, four assists, and four steals, while Libby Fleming (Bangor, Maine) secured her fourth double-double of the season via an 11-point, 12-rebound effort.

Sarah Dempsey (Windham, N.H.) rounded out the double digit scorers with her 11 points (4-9 FG), eight rebounds, and two rejections.

Nadeau kicked things off in the first with back-to-back straight away threes to give the Gulls a brief 6-4 lead. The rest of the quarter was a defensive battle, and a Shinney triple from the left wing cut UNE's lead back to 12-9 as the first quarter buzzer sounded.

The shooting continued to struggle for both teams throughout the second quarter, with each side shooting just 4-14 from the floor in the period. Dempsey poured in a quick five points on back-to-back possessions, but the Nor'Easters amped up their lead to 24-18 as the two teams headed into the halftime break.

Out of the break, Fleming sparked a 12-8 run over the opening 6:11 to inch the Gulls a little closer, and the Blue and Green eventually entered the fourth trailing by three (35-32).

With 6:57 remaining in the contest, the Nor'Easters snatched their biggest lead of the evening, 43-35. 

However, the Gulls refused to back down. Trailing by six with 2:26 to play, Nadeau knocked down a huge three to get the visitors within a possession (44-41).

Then, with just 57 seconds on the clock, she drained another to knot the score at 44 apiece. 

After some clutch free throw shooting from the Nor'Easters, they regained a three point lead with 14 seconds left on the clock. Shinney quickly cut that to a one point lead with a driving layup at the other end.

The Gulls elected to foul, and once again, UNE went 2-2 at the line to go up 50-47. Endicott called a timeout to set up a last chance opportunity.

Coach Jamie Insel drew up an out of bounds play designed to find Nadeau in the corner, and the Gulls ran it to perfection. She cashed in the clutchest shot of the evening with four seconds remaining, splashing her open triple to force overtime.

In the five minute overtime period, Sofia Mazzotta (Billerica, Mass.) gave the Gulls a 54-53 lead at the 2:44 mark via a fastbreak layup. They did not relinquish the lead from there, knocking down their crunch time free throws to solidify the gritty road win. 

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Earlier this season, the Blue and Green erased a 15-point UNE lead and defeated the Nor'Easters by a 58-50 score behind Dempsey's 30-point performance.
• Dempsey is now just two points away from tying and three points away from passing Melissa Tarpy '98 for the program's all-time scoring record (1,560).
• Nadeau drilled at least five triples for the fourth time in her career.
• Endicott is currently second in the CNE standings, trailing just Western New England.
• The Blue and Green limited the Nor'Easters to just one three-pointer in the contest.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (15-5, 11-2 CNE) heads to Suffolk on Saturday, February 8 for a 1 PM CNE contest against the Rams. UNE (10-10, 7-6 CNE) welcomes Gordon to Harold Alfond Forum on Saturday in another 1 PM CNE matchup. 

For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.

(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)