BEVERLY, Mass. -- Sadie Nelson drained a pair of three-pointers in the waning moments to vault the University of New England women's basketball team past Endicott College, 55-52, in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action Tuesday evening (Feb. 5) at MacDonald Gymnasium.

The Gulls led by as many as nine (40-31, 44-35) as play transitioned from the 3rd to the 4th, and were still up by a 52-44 margin with under four minutes remaining. The Nor'easters, however, tightened up the defense down the stretch to spur the comeback, holding the hosts scoreless with seven field-goal misses and a couple turnovers the rest of the way.

It was 52-47 before Nelson swished her first at the 1:19 mark, and she put the visitors on top (53-52) with 27 seconds left by hitting a deep triple late in the shot clock. Endicott fell victim to the Nor'easter zone as a looped pass was intercepted by Jocelyn Chaput, who was fouled and canned two at the line to pad the cushion with 17 ticks on the clock. The Gulls had two layups bounce away on their final possession.

Nelson (8), Chaput (5), and Madalyn Sanborn (4) supplied the majority of UNE's 22 points in the last stanza, as the team connected at a 50-percent rate from the floor.

The Nor'easters (12-11, 10-4 CCC) won their third straight to earn a season split versus the Gulls (15-7, 11-2 CCC), who saw their five-game unbeaten streak snapped and now top the conference by just one game over Roger Williams University.

Nelson and Allie Goodman logged 12 points apiece to lead UNE, and combined for 11 rebounds. Chaput went for seven points, six boards, and five assists, while Sanborn secured a team-high seven caroms.

Emily Pratt tossed in a game-best 17 points for EC, with another 12 coming from Kaleigh Putnam. Emma Tierney totaled nine rebounds and six blocks.

Early on, the eighth lead-change started a 9-0 Endicott run as the Gulls grabbed a 28-21 halftime edge. UNE closed the gap to one (30-29) in the middle of the 3rd, but found itself behind by a 42-33 spread entering the final 10 minutes.

The Nor'easters return home to face Nichols College (2-11 CCC) on Saturday, prior to wrapping up the regular-season next Wednesday at Wentworth Institute of Technology (1-12 CCC).