Kiernan’s Career-High 18 Points Lifts Endicott Over Nichols, 76-43

BEVERLY, Mass. – Behind a career-high 18 points from sophomore guard Hannah Kiernan (Wenham, Mass.), the Endicott women's basketball team defeated Nichols, 76-43, on Wednesday night inside MacDonald Gymnasium.

Kiernan led all student-athletes with her 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor and a 2-for-4 showing at the free throw line to go along with six rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Senior guard Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) chipped in with 14 points, while Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) added 10 points in the win.

Freshman guard Catie Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) and sophomore forward Sam Charette (Wenham, Mass.) also contributed eight points apiece.

Junior guard Taylor Daniels (Dudley, Mass.) paced Nichols with 15 points, while junior forward Julia Zawacki (Waterford, Conn.) registered 11 points and three rebounds in just 14 minutes off the bench. Freshman guard Amy Assad (Millis, Mass.) rounded out the list of highlights for the Bison with seven points, five rebounds, one block and a steal.

Endicott produced a 23-9 advantage in the first quarter and never looked back as the Gulls outscored the guests by five points or more in each quarter to build up a lead as large as 34 points with 51-seconds left to go in the contest. The Blue and Green took advantage of the paint in tonight's victory outscoring Nichols, 38-18, at the rim. The 20-point differential in the painted area also included a 16-0 margin in fast break points.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Sophomore guard Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) dished out a career-high nine assists and also tied her career-high in steals with five tonight.
• Endicott improved its home record this season to 4-5 overall.
• The Blue and Green scored 26 points off of 26 Nichols' turnovers.
• The Gulls saw 10 student-athletes score in tonight's win.
• Endicott shot 52.8-percent from the field, its second-highest total this season (Curry, W 77-62, 55.6%, Jan. 5, 2016).
• Cuddy was honored tonight in a pre-game ceremony for reaching the 1,000 career point milestone back on Jan. 9, 2016 at Western New England with an eight-point performance in the team's 59-52 road victory that day.

FOR THE FOES

• The Bison are 0-8 on the road in 2015-16.
• Nichols recorded 34 rebound,s including 15 on the offensive glass, which led to nine second chance points.

NOTES

• Endicott is 19-5 all-time and 10-2 at home against Nichols dating back prior to the 2002 season.
• The Gulls have won 11 of the last 12 against the Bison.
• In the most previous meeting before tonight, Endicott downed Nichols, 86-61, in Dudley, Mass. on Dec. 2, 2015.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (11-7, 9-2 CCC) travels to Salve Regina this Saturday for a conference matchup at 1 p.m. Nichols (3-15, 2-9 CCC) heads to the University of New England on Saturday at 1 p.m. 

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