Endicott Suffers 50-48 Overtime Defeat In ECAC Quarterfinals

Boston, Mass. -- The Endicott women's basketball team saw their 2012-13 season come to an end on Wednesday night after the Gulls were edged 50-48 in overtime as part of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division-III New England Women's Basketball quarterfinals on Wednesday evening at the Regan Gymnasium.

Junior Samantha Crough (Cohassett, Mass.) led the Gulls with 17 points on the evening, while senior Jen McBrien (Medfield, Mass.) had a game-high 12 rebounds in her final game in a Gulls uniform.

Crough was hot in the first half as she was 5-for-8 from the floor in the period netting 13 points to pace Endicott, who finishes their campaign with a 16-12 record.  

Jennifer Ruys (Wallingford, Conn.) led all scorers with 19 points to pace the Rams as they improve to a 22-7 overall record on the year. Senior Jacqueline Vienneau (Salem, N.H.) connected on back-to-back free throws in overtime to push Suffolk to the slim victory as she finished the evening with 13 points for the Rams.

It was a tightly contested battle throughout the evening as both teams exchanged lead changes a total of eight teams and played with a tied score on nine different occasions. After Suffolk opened the game with an 8-0 run, neither team over the next forty two minutes of play would lead by a margin of more than four points.

Crough and the Gulls would come out of the break scoring the first basket of the second half, but Ruys would answer to put the Rams back up by four points before Endicott junior Sarah Robinson (Norwich, Vt.) connected on a pair of free-throws and freshman Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) evened the game with two of her half's six points to make it a 29-29 contest.

Robinson had seven points and was one of three Gulls with two steals in the game.

The Rams had taken a 27-23 lead into halftime with them as Ruys and Vienneau combined for 15 Suffolk points in the first half, two of only three Rams to find the first period scoresheet.

With two minutes remaining in regulation junior Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) gave the Gulls the lead, 42-41 as she netted her first two points of the game with 1:57 left on the clock. Robinson would put the visitors up by a pair when she knocked down a free-throw seconds later.

Suffolk Sophomore Tori Brillaud (North Andover, Mass.) knocked down an eight-foot baseline jumper with thirty-three seconds remaining on the clock to put the game at 43-43 deadlock as neither team could muster any points from there on out sending the contest to an extra period.

Ruys and the Rams came right out in the extra period as she put in two layups down low in the first forty eight seconds as Suffolk built an early lead.

White would answer for Endicott as she connected on a three-pointer to draw the Gulls within one, 47-46. White's trey would be the final field-goal for either side in the contest at the 3:40 mark as both teams did all their scoring from the free-throw line in the remainder of the game.

A pair of free-throws by Crough pushed Endicott up, 48-47 with 2:38 on the clock.

On their next possesion, Vienneau would draw a foul and sink both of her ensuing shots from the line to push the Rams up for good, as the only scoring over the final 2:21 was a free-throw shot by Suffolk sophomore Shelby Santini (Winchester, Mass.) in the closing seconds.

Junior Jordan Ferland (Charlestown, N.H.) scored nine points. White finished the evening with five points and eight boards for the Gulls.

Brillaud finished the night with a game-high 11 rebounds for the Rams. Ruys finished the evening with four blocked shots, while Santini had a pair.

Suffolk will now play third-seeded Wellesley College on Saturday afternoon. Wellesley defeated Salve Regina, 54-42 in their contest.