Beverly, Mass. – Visiting University of New England built a nine-point halftime lead and held off a late Endicott rally to pull out the 71-64 victory in a showdown of second-place teams in The Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC).
The Nor'easters used a 16-2 run over the final seven minutes of the first half to take the lead, which ballooned to as much as 15 in the second frame, before the hosts trimmed it to just three with 1:30 to go. UNE responded with a 5-0 run to push the lead to eight and converted from the line down the stretch to gain sole possession of second-place in the conference. Endicott slides into a third place tie with Colby-Sawyer.
Junior guard Kelley Paradis (Newport, Maine) led the visitors with 22 points and seven rebounds. Classmate Margo Russell (Madison, Maine) added 18 points as the only other double-digit scorer for UNE (16-6, 9-1 TCCC).
Endicott (14-6, 8-2) was led by senior guard Ashley Wright's (Merrimack, N.H.) 21 points and five assists. Wright got hot in the second half, scoring 16 points and hitting a trio of 3-pointers to bring the Gulls back.
Classmate Brittany Kelleher (Wakefield, Mass.) finished with a double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) on 5 of 9 shooting.
Wright's only triple of the first half handed Endicott its largest lead of the game at 15-8. Paradis responded with one of her own before a Kelleher free throw pushed the lead to five with 9:06 to play. The Nor'easters outscored the Gulls by 14 the rest of the way and took a 27-18 lead into the locker rooms.
The two teams exploded for a combined 90 points in the second half. Endicott hit 53% percent of its shots while UNE was equally impressive, shooting just under 47% in the final 20 minutes.
UNE built the lead to 15 (44-29) just over five minutes into the half after senior guard Carrie Bunnell (Barnet, Vt.) drilled one from beyond the arc.
The Gulls found themselves trailing by double-digits until an Ashley Walenta (Plainfield, Conn.) jumper with 10:50 to go cut the deficit to eight (49-41). Walenta finished with ten points off the bench including a pair from long distance.
The visitors built the lead back up to ten following a layup by Liz LeBlanc (Jay, Maine). Endicott's defense clamped down and, after a step back three from Wright, found themselves trailing by just three (64-61).
Paradis' conventional three-point play on the ensuing possession provided some breathing room before the Nor'easters hit five straight from the charity stripe to put the game away.
The Gulls continue a difficult stretch of play to close out the regular season as they head to Newport, R.I. to take on conference-leading Salve Regina (19-3, 10-0) on Saturday (Feb. 12) at 1:00 pm. UNE visits Colby-Sawyer on the same day, with tip-off set for 1:00.