Gulls Roll in Season Opener
Nov. 16, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - The Endicott College women's basketball team opened its 2007-08 season with an impressive showing, cruising past Wilkes University, 84-34, in the opening round of the Gulls' annual Endicott Tip-Off Tournament in Beverly, Massachusetts.
The two squads spent the opening 10-minutes of the first half feeling the game out, as several turnovers and poor ball movement slowed the early flow of the game. However the Gulls found their groove midway through the opening frame as junior guard Nicole Duchesne (Plaistow, NH/Central Catholic) scored five-straight points in the form of a step-back three pointer and a pretty lay-up on a feed from Kaylin Burke (Leominster, MA/Leominster) to give Endicott a 17-9 advantage.
From there, the Blue and Green pieced together a game-ending 26-9 run that sent the Gulls into the intermission with a commanding 43-18 lead.
Strong shooting and depth off the bench continued into the second half as every Endicott player found a way to put points on the board. The Gulls turned 31 Wilkes turnovers into 29 points, outscoring the visitors 29-2 in that category. The Lady Colonels shot 4-of-22 (18.2%) from the field in the second frame, as Wilkes only posted 16 second half points.
Endicott's Nicole Duchesne led all scorers with 22 points in only 21 minutes of action. The Gulls' Ceciley Chisholm (Lexington, MA/Lexington) came just one rebound shy of a double-double, as she posted 11 points and nine rebounds in the victory. Senior Rachael Bradley (Lynn, MA/St. Mary's of Lynn) and junior Nicole Young (Rockland, MA/Cardinal Spellman) also added 10 points apiece for EC.
Wilkes University was led by Sam Lynam (Spinnerstown, PA/Quakertown) as the freshman made her collegiate debut with 13 points off the bench. Katie Cappelloni (Scranton, PA/Bishop Hannan) scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds in the loss.
With the win, Endicott advances into Saturday's EC Tip-Off Invitational Championship game where they will meets Tufts University at 3:00 p.m.. The Jumbos shot past Rhode Island College, 78-44, in the early game on Friday. Wilkes University will square-off with RIC in the Consolation game beginning at 1:00 p.m.