All-Around Effort Leads Endicott Over North Shore Rival Gordon

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott used a balanced offensive attack to down Gordon College 66-38 on Wednesday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) women's basketball at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Eight different players scored five or more points for Endicott (12-9, 9-6 CCC), who was led by 12 points from junior Sam Crough (Cohasett, Mass.).

The Gulls shot 44.7% in the first half and jumped out to a 16-point lead by the break en route to sending the Scots to a 3-19 record (1-14 CCC).

Sophomore Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) led the Gulls with nine rebounds to go with five points, while junior Jen White (Lisbon, N.H.) added nine points and seven boards.

Senior guard Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) dished out a game-high five assists, one fewer than the Scots collected as a team.  McBrien netted eight points herself and also grabbed seven rebounds while recording a block and three steals.

Lauren Kranyak (Locust Grove, Va.) and Brooke Kratche (Chagrin Falls, Ohio), who each registered double-doubles last time the teams met, were the leading scorers for Gordon with 10 points apiece. Kranyak flirted with a double-double again, grabbing nine rebounds, while Kratche had six rebounds and two steals.

The visitors used two three-pointers to take a 10-4 lead, but from there on out it was all Endicott, as the Gulls erupted for a 23-3 run to take a 14-point advantage with 7:30 minutes left in the first half.

Two jumpers by Crough gave the Gulls their largest lead of the first half at 16 points. Crough, who was 6-16 from the floor, hit another shot at the beginning of the second half and Endicott's lead would not dip below sixteen points for the rest of the game, growing to 24 on a three-pointer by freshman Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.), who had five points in the game to go with three assists and a steal.

Guard Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) dished out four helpers of her own and had two thefts to accompany her five rebounds and four points.

Endicott's bench outscored the Scots 28-3, with freshman McKenzie Farquharson (West Haven, Conn.) the high-scoring reserve for Endicott with 7 points in eleven minutes of action. Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) and Julie Manning (Hull, Mass.) each had six points off the bench, with Ferland also collecting four rebounds.

Clancey Adams (Simsbury, Conn.) was 2-5 from behind the three-point line for Gordon, who shot 3-9 as a team from downtown. Adams had six points and seven rebounds for the Scots in a losing effort.

Neither team was particularly successful from the free-throw line, with each squad shooting right around the 55% mark at the charity stripe.

Endicott improves to 16-10 all-time against their local rivals and has now won the last twelve meetings between the two programs. The Gulls also gain valuable points in the North Shore Cup competition, which pits Endicott against Gordon and Salem State University.

The Gulls will be back on the court at MacDonald Gymnasium this weekend, with a game set for Saturday at 1:00 pm against Curry College. Endicott was edged 55-53 by Curry earlier in the year in Milton, which dealt the Gulls their first CCC loss of the season.

The Scots, who had recently broken an 18-game losing streak and collected their first CCC win of the year, will make the short trip back to Wenham and prepare to welcome in the Salve Regina on Saturday at the same hour.