Beverly, Mass. – Wesleyan University jumped out to a 14-7 lead in the first half and held off a late Endicott rally to pick up a 66-60 win in the championship game of the Endicott Tip-Off Tournament.  The visitors saw a 15-point halftime lead negated by a strong second half by the Gulls.  The Blue and Green cut the deficit to three with just over seven minutes remaining but succumbed to hot shooting by the Cardinals down the stretch.

Sam LaCroce (Prospect, Conn.) recorded a double-double in the win.  The junior forward scored a team-high 18 points and added a game-high 13 rebounds for the Cardinals.

Endicott (2-1) was led by Ashley Wright's (Merrimack, N.H.) 19 points.  The senior guard did most of her damage at the charity stripe, where she went 10-for-11 on the day.  Classmate Ashley Vitale (Wilmington, Mass.) added 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds in defeat.

LaCroce hit a pair of free throws with just under ten minutes left in the first half to give Wesleyan an 11-point lead (18-7).  Wesleyan (2-0) continued to stretch the lead and took a commanding 35-14 lead with just over two minutes to go in the opening half.

Endicott scored the final six points of the half, including four from Wright, and trailed 35-20 at the break.

McKinley Tennant (Swampscott, Mass.) drilled a pair of three-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half to put the Cardinals on top 43-23.  The Gulls responded with a pair of 8-0 runs to get within six. 

 Junior guard Nicole Heffernan (Londonderry, N.H.) pulled the Gulls within three with a layup at 7:42.  Wesleyan scored five straight, including another three-pointer to push its lead to eight.

Endicott was able to trim the lead to four points on two occasions in the final five minutes but failed to gain the lead.  Wesleyan shot 85.7% (6-of-7) from long distance in the second half to pick up the win.

The Cardinals featured balanced scoring in the win, with six players recording five points or more.

Senior forward Brittany Kelleher (Wakefield, Mass.) added nine points and six rebounds for the hosts. 

Endicott held an 18-0 advantage in points off turnovers in the second frame but found the halftime deficit too much to overcome. 

The Gulls return to action on Tuesday when they travel to Daniel Webster for a non-conference game at 5:00 pm.