BEVERLY, Mass. -- Trailing 60-52 with less than two minutes remaining, the University of New England scored the final 11 points of the contest to rally for a 63-60 win over Endicott College in Thursday's (Jan. 17) match-up of the top two teams in the Commonwealth Coast Conference women's basketball standings.
Winners of six straight overall to move to 11-4, the Nor'easters remained unbeaten in CCC play and now boast an 8-0 mark. Endicott dropped to 10-5 overall, 6-2 in conference games. The triumph avenged a 53-49 upset loss to the Gulls in last season's CCC Championship semifinal round.
UNE sophomore Kelly Coleman racked up her fifth double-double by posting game highs of 17 points and 15 rebounds. Beth Suggs also recorded a double-double, her 10th of the season, with 12 points and 14 boards. Liz LeBlanc came off the bench to score 11 points -- all in the second half -- including three 3-pointers, while Lauren Hayden added 11 points and eight caroms.
Endicott was paced by Jennifer White, who scored 15 points and blocked five shots. Kayleen Whall contributed 14 points and Samantha Crough tossed in 13.
After Sarah Robinson knocked down a jumper to give the hosts a 60-52 lead with 2:04 on the clock, the Gulls would fail to score again the rest of the way. Coleman and LeBlanc sandwiched three-pointers around an Endicott turnover to get Big Blue within two (60-58).
The Gulls would miss a jumper their next trip up the court, then Coleman converted a layup and was fouled to tie the score with 0:47 remaining. Coleman missed the free throw, but Hayden came up with an offensive rebound to get UNE another possession.
After UNE worked some time off the clock, Hayden failed to convert from close range, but once again grabbed another offensive board and was fouled. She buried the front end of a one-and-one to give the Nor'easters the lead (61-60) for good. Hayden would miss the second attempt, and after an Endicott timeout, the Gulls missed a jumper with 0:15 left.
Coleman would make a pair of free throws with 11 ticks remaining before a three-point attempt by Endicott was off the mark as time expired.
Down 15-8 in the first half, the Gulls closed the frame with a 21-10 run to establish a 29-25 lead at intermission. White tallied seven points to help fuel the surge. UNE started strong in the second half, scoring 10 of the first 16 points to tie the tilt at 35.
From there, Endicott would forge a 10-4 run to grab a 45-39 cushion. LeBlanc nailed a couple of treys to prevent the hosts from pulling away any further.
For the game, the Nor'easters overcame 30.9 percent (21 of 68) percent shooting from the floor by establishing a 52-32 margin on the boards. Big Blue turned 22 offensive rebounds into 15 second-chance points.
UNE will look to keep its perfect CCC record intact Saturday (Jan. 19) when Western New England University comes to Biddeford for a 1 p.m. game.