BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott celebrated Senior Day and closed out its regular season schedule on Saturday with a 69-63 victory over Eastern Nazarene in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball action at MacDonald Gymnasium.
Senior guard Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.), the lone graduating member of the 2012-13 Endicott women's basketball team, hit two free-throws to break a tie and give Endicott a 65-63 lead with just over two minutes to play after the Gulls had trailed for much of the game.
Endicott (15-10, 11-7 CCC) has already clinched a spot in the CCC women's basketball tournament, and will play their quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday night, with the opponent and location to be determined.
Gulls junior Jen White (Lisbon, N.H.) had 20 points, nine rebounds and six assists, all game-highs, which included a perfect 9-9 showing at the free-throw line, where Endicott as a team shot 95%, missing just one of their 21 attempts.
White, who already had 14 points in the first half on 4-7 shooting and a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line, was one of four Gulls in double figures.
That list included her classmate Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.), who netted 16 points, ten of them in the second half, when she found her shooting touch, going 5-11 after the break, and also had two blocks, four steals and six rebounds in the victory.
Eastern Nazarene shot 50% from the three-point line in the first half (3-6) and jumped out to a 13 point lead to start the game, thanks to eight quick points from Mel Green (Annapolis, Md.), who finished the game with 17 points and 9 rebounds off of the Eastern Nazarene bench.
The Gulls slowly climbed back into the contest and, though they weren't able to take the lead before halftime, were right in the game at the break, trailing 33-30. Endicott shot 32% from the field, but the Lions fired 13-30 (43%) in the first half.
The Lions continued to shoot well in the second half, again hitting over 40%, but they went cold from downtown after the break, missing all four of their three-point attempts in the second half, which was played at a much closer clip and featured seven of the game's eight ties.
Senior Ace Carradine (Honolulu, Hawaii) and junior Abbie Tonello (Bourne, Mass.) each had 13 points for Eastern Nazarene in a losing effort.
Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) had ten points in a starting role for Endicott, complimented by five rebounds.
Shardae Brown (Waterbury, Conn.) and Presley Neufeld (Seattle, Wash.) each put in eight points for the Lions, with Neufeld adding a team-high four assists and Brown pulling in six rebounds.
Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) had seven points of the bench for Endicott.
The Lions (11-14, 6-12 CCC) also have secured a spot in the tournament and will wait to find out their opponent for a road quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday night.