Gulls Defeat Golden Bears, 52-48; Clinch Top Seed In CCC Tournament

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team clinched the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament with a 52-48 victory over Western New England on Wednesday evening. 

The Gulls jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes of the contest and never looked back in the first half as they took a 30-22 lead heading into halftime. 

In the opening minutes of the third quarter, the Golden Bears gained their first lead of the game and the remainder of the quarter was back and forth with the Gulls taking a slight 42-39 advantage on a Catie Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) three-pointer with five seconds remaining in the frame.

Western New England wouldn't go down without a fight, however, and battled back to bring the deficit to two points (47-45) with 41 seconds remaining in regulation. The Gulls netted a total of five free throws from Olivia Duncan (Essex Junction, Vt.), Emily Pratt (Gardner, Mass.), and Lipscomb in the final 24 seconds of the game to secure the 52-48 victory and the top seed in the upcoming CCC Tournament.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is 16-9 against Western New England in the all-time series.
• The Gulls are 9-2 on the road this season.
• This is the first season since 2007-08 that the Gulls have earned the No. 1 seed in the CCC Tournament. 
• Pratt led all scorers with 24 points, while Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) had 21 for the Golden Bears. 
• Lexi Gellerman (West Hartford, Conn.) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (17-7, 13-2 CCC) hosts Gordon on Saturday, February 16 at 1:00 PM. The Gulls will honor their two seniors Emma Tierney (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and Lipscomb prior to the game. Western New England (16-8, 10-5 CCC) visits Roger Williams on Saturday at 1:00 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)