BEVERLY, Mass. – Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the first half and Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) collected 14 rebounds to lead Endicott to another victory at home, this time a 61-51 win over the Bison of Nichols College on Thursday night.
The Gulls improved to 12-7 on the season, with a 9-3 mark in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play. Nichols, who has lost four straight and nine of their last ten, fall to 4-16 (3-10 CCC).
The game saw five lead changes early on and was knotted at 15 before Endicott went on an 8-0 run, including six straight points by sophomore Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.). Crough had ten points in the first half, on 5-8 shooting.
Though the visitors would narrow the gap to one point, Endicott held the lead until halftime, though it was cut to three by a Sarah Whitestone (Dalton, Mass.) jumper with ten seconds to play.
Chelsea Shaughnessy (Halifax, Mass.), who had seven of her team high 11 points in the second half, and the Bison worked hard to take the lead in the second half and were able to do so with eight and a half minutes gone. Five straight points by freshman Carly Turpel (Berkley, Mass.) tied the game at 41 and a Shaughnessy jumper gave the Bison a two point lead. Turpel was the leading bench scorer for the Bison, with nine points.
Their lead was short-lived, however, as Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) picked off the ball and converted a fast break layup to tie the game. Less than a minute later, Ferland converted a bucket to give Endicott the lead again, one they would grow to ten points with a 17-7 run, capped by a three-pointer from Katelyn Wright (Subdury, Mass.).
The Gulls as a team heated up from behind the three point arc in the second half. After hitting just one of eleven attempts from downtown in the first period, Endicott shot 60 % (3-5) to close the game. The visitors made just two of their twelve attempts from the floor and shot only 27 percent (3-11) from the foul line in the game.
Jen White added seven points to go with her 14 rebounds, and also contributed three assists, a block and a steal. Crough picked up seven rebounds and was the defensive leader of the evening, blocking four shots and swiping three passes for the Gulls. Shaughnessy, ranked 12th in the NCAA in steals per game, managed just two thefts for Nichols, matched by Kristina Lindgren (Sturbridge, Mass.), whose four assists also led all players.
Bison Junior forward Hayley Zophin (Framingham, Mass.) was the only other player in double-figures, scoring ten points and grabbing eight rebounds. Nichols was led on the boards by Emily Yourie (Ellington, Conn.), who came off the bench to pick up eleven caroms.
Endicott pushes their home record to 8-1, with their only loss at MacDonald Gymnasium coming to Salem State on January 5th. The Gulls hope that trend continues when their mini-homestand rolls on Saturday afternoon. Endicott will face Western New England University with a 1:00 pm tip-off in Beverly.
The Bison return home for a 2:00 pm date with the Wentworth Institute of Technology Lepoards.