Gulls Bow Out of ECAC Tournament in Semifinals

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KEENE, N.H. 3/3/12 – Led by a 25-0 run late in the first half, the no. 2 seeded Smith College Pioneers defeated the Endicott women's basketball team, 79-57, on Saturday afternoon at Spaulding Gymnasium, knocking Endicott out of the ECAC New England tournament and ending the Gull's season with a record of 18-12.

In a back-and-forth first half, the Gulls stormed out to an eight-point lead on a jumper from senior guard Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H.) to make it 16-8 with 11:46 left in the half. Heffernan was playing in her final game in an Endicott uniform after a stellar four-year career for the Blue and Green.

 After a layup by sophomore Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.), made the score 18-10 in favor of the \#3 seeded Gulls with nine and a half minutes left, Endicott was held scoreless for nearly seven and a half minutes, as Smith would go on a 25-0 run, taking a 35-18 lead on a layup from freshman guard Maddie Page (Arvada, Colorado) with 2:11 left. In the run, Pioneer junior Lizzy BelBruno (Hanover, N.H.) would score all 12 of her first half points, including a pair of shots from beyond-the-arc.

In the second half, Endicott would cut the lead to 10 points, on a jumper from White with 17:49 left, but that is as close as the Gulls would get, as Smith would open the lead up to as many as 26 en route to the 79-57 victory.

 Endicott was led by sophomore Samantha Crough (Cohassett, Mass.) and her 15 points in the game. White finished with 14, while sophomore Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) totaled 12 points in the losing effort and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.
 
The Pioneers had four players in double figures, led by BelBruno's 15 points. Junior Amanda Zakoske (Jacksonville, Florida) and freshman Paulina Solis (Santa Ana, California) each registered 11 points, while sophomore Rosa Drummond (Rye, N.H.) pitched in with 10 points. Senior Ellie Giles (Charlottesville, Virginia) grabbed a game-high 10 boards.

Smith won the battle on the glass with 46 rebounds to Endicott's 40, while shooting a blistering 46% (31-67) from the field. The Gulls shot just 26% in the first half and just under 36% from the field in the game, in the losing effort.

With the victory, Smith improves to 22-6 and advances to the ECAC Championship contest against host Keene State College on Sunday at 2 p.m.