Women's Hoops Fall to CCC Top Dog, Curry

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) top dog, Curry on Saturday afternoon. After a season high, 30 points from Curry senior Kylie Beltz (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) the Colonels took the 73-53 victory over the Gulls. Endicott falls to 5-8 (1-5 CCC) while the Colonels remain undefeated in conference play at 8-4 (6-0 CCC).

The Gulls will take the court next on Thursday, January 15th as they travel to CCC foe, Nichols for a 7:30p.m. matchup. The Colonels will hit the court next on Monday, January 12th as they travel to Suffolk for a non-conference contest at 7:00 p.m.

Overall Curry posted a strong game from the charity stripe shooting 82% while Endicott also posted a good mark from the line shooting 71%. However the Blue and Green struggled from the field with 26% while putting up 16% from long-range. Curry posted strong games from inside the arc and the three-point line shooting in the low 40% range for each.

Both sides worked the boards hard as the Colonels only earned one more rebound than the Gulls (47-46), however Curry did take advantage of the 18 Endicott turnovers by scoring 22 of their points on those plays. The Blue and Green did crash the boards offensively out-rebounding their opponent 18-11, which led to the 13 second chance points for the Gulls. Despite the loss, Endicott did continue to show their depth with 25 bench points and strong defensive efforts.

The first half was controlled by Curry as they held the Blue and Green to 20 points while tallying 40 on the offensive end. Senior Kylie Beltz (Pequot Lakes, Minn.) led both sides as she put up an impressive 18 points, highlighted by three fast-break layups. For the Blue and Green junior Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) and senior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) each put up five while Cuddy led Endicott with two steals.

Throughout the half senior Samantha Corcoran (Hampton, N.H.) posted an impressive four blocks while senior Jeanette Fallon (Nashua, N.H.) came up with two steals and four rebounds. For the Gulls Whall led the home team with seven rebounds off the bench.

The second half showed a Blue and Green squad that was resilient at the charity stripe shooting an impressive 11-of-13 (85%) but again struggled from the field with their 31% and 18% from long-range. With the help of the 12 point effort from Beltz, the Colonels posted a strong half, shooting 34% from close-range and 60% from outside the arc.

For Endicott, junior Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) worked to get the squad back within reach with her 11 point effort in the half while Whall followed with eight points and six rebounds. Despite the second half efforts the Blue and Green just could not shut down the Colonel offense that leads the CCC with a 6-0 record as they took the 73-63 victory.