Women’s Basketball Earns Gritty Comeback Victory Over Nichols, 65-59
BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team defeated Nichols, 65-59, in Conference of New England (CNE) action on Wednesday night at MacDonald Gymnasium.
Emma Shinney (Wakefield, Mass.) paced the Gulls with 19 points (7-15 FG, 5-8 FT), 10 rebounds (both team-highs), three assists, and one steal. The double-double was the ninth of her career, and second this season.
Tenley Wallin (Danbury, Conn.) and Sofia Mazzotta (Billerica, Mass.) contributed 12 points apiece, while Tricia Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) added eight points to highlight the rest of the scorers.
Mazzotta also hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds, impacting both ends of the floor for the Gulls.
Endicott trailed for the majority of the contest (34:58), but never wavered, eventually taking its first lead with 3:10 remaining in the matchup.
The Gulls erased multiple game-high eight-point deficits (44-36, 46-38, 48-40), including the last one with 1:55 remaining in the third quarter by manufacturing a 25-11 run to close out the victory.
Shinney produced a team-high nine points during the spurt, while Mazzotta registered five, and Wallin tallied four.
Aleah Bracey (New Bedford, Mass.) also drilled a clutch three with 5:46 left (54-53 deficit).
Wladkowski and Mia McGarrity (Ridgfield, Conn.) rounded out the offense with two points each, running Endicott's scorers to seven total throughout the run.
The last five minutes of the fourth quarter featured three ties (55-55, 57-57, 59-59) before the Gulls broke away on a pair of Wladkowski free throws (61-59, 2:41), a Shinney layup (63-59, 1:31), and two more free throws via Mazzotta (65-59, 1:12).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is 37-6 all-time against Nichols (22-2 at home).
- The Gulls held advantages in the paint (36-28) and second chance points (13-9).
- Defensively, Endicott limited Nichols to a season-low-tying 10 points in the fourth quarter (4-18 FG, 1-6 3PT, 1-2 FT).
- McGarrity finished a team-best plus-11 in 12:30 of action off the bench (Wallin, +8, led starters).
- The sophomore forward had four points off the bench, helping the Gulls lead in that category, 11-9.
- Lily Cooper (Southington, Conn.) also collected a team-high five points off the bench, while Avery Brown (Canton, Conn.) canned two points.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (3-2, 1-0 CNE) visits No. 12 Bates on Saturday, November 22 at 2 PM. Nichols (3-1, 0-1 CNE) hosts Rivier this Saturday at 1 PM.
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(Photo Credit - Jonah Bean '28)