Endicott Wins Comeback Thriller for Second Place in CCC

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BEVERLY, Mass. – Despite never leading during regulation, the Endicott Gulls defeated Salve Regina University 67-61 in overtime on Wednesday night to take over second place from the Seahawks in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball standings. Endicott outscored the Seahawks 13-7 in the overtime period to improve to 10-6 on the year (7-2 CCC).

The Seahawks (10-7, 7-3 CCC) took the lead from the opening tip and never relinquished it, but when the final buzzer had sounded, the teams were back where they had started, deadlocked at 54 after a jumper by Endicott forward Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.) with forty seconds to play. It was another jumper by the sophomore, who had seven points in overtime, that gave Endicott the lead for good with 47 seconds to play in the extra period.

Crough led the Gulls in scoring with 15 points, most of them on incredible clutch shooting late in the contest. After missing all six of her attempts in the first half, Crough shot 3-7 from the floor in the second half and 3-4 in overtime, including nailing a three off the tip that gave Endicott a 57-54 advantage to start the extra frame.

The visitors from Newport, R.I. led by as much as 14 points in each of the halves, though both teams started slow off of the tip-off, combining for only 15 points through the first eight minutes of play. The Seahawks then opened up a 20-9 run to take their biggest advantage of the first frame, 29-15, spurred by two blocks by Allison Pigoga (Exeter, R.I.) and layups by junior guard Kaitlyn Birrell (Hope, R.I.). Lindsay Shorey (Ashland, Mass.) had 11 over game-leading 19 points in the first half to lead the Seahawks.

The Gulls cut the lead to seven close to the end of the half as Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) and Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) teamed up for a pair of buckets, including a three-pointer, but Salve Regina freshman Cortney Rosenlund (Whitinsville, Mass.) hit a jumper with 12 seconds to go and the Gulls went into the break trailing by nine points.

Three-pointers by Birrell and Sarah Averill (Newfields, N.H.) helped the Seahawks up their lead again to 14 with just over 14:30 remaining in the second half before the Gulls went to work at the deficit. A three-pointer by sophomore guard Ashley Walenta (Plainfield, Conn.) shrunk the Salve lead to 7 points (49-42) by the nine minute mark, and two more layups by Walenta four minutes later would pull Endicott within three points.

Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H.), who led the Gulls with four assists, would bring Endicott to within a point before Lisa Bucci (Irvington, N.Y.) hit a big three-pointer, her only field goal make of the game to stretch the visitor's lead back to four.

That's when Endicott went back to the sophomore Crough, who connected on a jumper with 2:05 to play and then, after Endicott's defense had held tight, her game-tying bucket in the final minute.

Marissa Pendergast (Medfield, Mass.) and Birrell each put in 13 points for Salve Regina, joining Shorey, who had a double-double with 11 rebounds, in double-digits. Birrell also led all players in the assist department, with 5. White poured in 11 points for the Gulls, while Heffernan had seven points, as did Walenta and freshman Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) off the bench.

Endicott did not miss an attempt from the free-throw line all evening, shooting a perfect 13-13. Salve Regina also shot well from the charity stripe, as Pendergast's 7-8 performance helped the team to make eight of their ten attempts. Endicott also shot 50 % from three-point land, with Heffernan and Walenta both perfect on their lone attempts from behind the three-point line. Salve shot just 3-13 from downtown.

Salve Regina, who is ranked second in the nation in blocks per game, with 6.9, swatted four balls tonight but were outdone almost single-handedly by Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.), who tallied 4 blocks herself and the Gulls, who blocked nine attempts, their most in a game this season. Ferland also pitched in 14 points and led the team with nine rebounds, as well as two assists and a steal.

Endicott will hit the hardwood again this Saturday when they play a 1:00 pm game with CCC foe Roger Williams in Bristol, R.I. Salve Regina will be in Rhode Island as well, as they return home to Newport to play conference leaders the University of New England at the same time.