Gulls Into CCC Semifinals After Upsetting Golden Bears

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The fifth seeded Endicott's women's basketball team has booked a spot in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinals thanks to a 68-60 upset of #4 Western New England on Tuesday night.

The Gulls, who improve to 16-10 with the victory, will make their eighth appearance in the conference semifinals in the last nine years. Just as they did last year, Endicott will travel to top-seeded University of New England for their semifinal matchup on Thursday at 7:00 pm, when they will hope to duplicate last season's feat of knocking off the Nor'easters on their home floor.

Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) scored 18 points, including hitting three attempts from behind the three-point line and a 7-9 showing at the free-throw line, where the Gulls as a team shot nearly 80%.

Thanks to White and freshman Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.), who was 3-3 from downtown for nine points in the game, the Gulls shot 7-for-14 from three-point range.

Western New England senior Emily Savino (Ellington, Conn.) led all players with 25 points, shooting 50% from the field and hitting 10-13 attempts from the free-throw line, while also dishing out four assists.

Catizone hit back-to-back three-pointers in the first half to give the Gulls a 22-21 lead after the Golden Bears had opened the game on a 10-2 run thanks to four straight layups by Chelsea Vujs (Berlin, Conn.), who was then held scoreless for the next thirty-five minutes.

The final six and a half minutes of the first half belonged to the hosts, however, who ended the first stanza on a 9-2 run to hold a 30-24 halftime break.

The Gulls steadily went to work on the Western New England lead in the second half, chipping away through the work of Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.), whose 9 points all came after the break, and then on three-pointers by White and junior Samantha Crough (Cohasett, Mass.).

Crough was effective from the field, netting 15 points on 6-13 shooting, along with a team-high 9 rebounds, two blocks and four steals.

A Savino jumper tied the game at 48 with ten minutes to play, but a layup by Manning and Catizone's final triple of the night gave Endicott the lead for good, which they padded by hitting ten free-throws down the stretch.

Endicott outrebounded the Golden Bears by a 37-28 margin and had assists on 17 of their 21 made baskets. Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) had a team-high five assists to go with six points, while senior Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) dished out four assists to go with 7 points and 8 rebounds.

Manning also had eight rebounds and a block for the Gulls, and she and McBrien came up with two steals apiece.  

Sam McCann (Warren, Mass.) and Elena Radzikowski (Medway, Mass.) each scored eight points for the Golden Bears, and Radzikowski took down a team-high six rebounds.

Both teams ended up shooting right around 40% for the game, though their route to that number was different.  Western New England shot 52% in the first half, then faded to a 30% mark. The Gulls struggled in the opening frame, shooting just 26%, but then found their touch in the second half, firing over 59%.

Western New England, who posted a 12-6 record in conference play this year, sees their overall mark drop to 15-11.