Women's Basketball Battles, Falls At Tufts, 71-60

MEDFORD, Mass. — The Endicott women's basketball team played tough, but ultimately fell to Tufts, 71-60, in Tuesday evening's non-conference matchup at Cousens Gymnasium.

Emma Shinney (Wakefield, Mass.) led the Gulls with a 17-point night on 7-15 shooting from the floor. The sophomore also logged team-highs in assists (four) and rebounds (seven) in her full 40 minutes of play.

Libby Fleming (Bangor, Maine) stayed hot with another strong performance from the floor. She posted 12 points (5-10 FG), seven rebounds, one steal, and one block.

Another bright spot for the Gulls came from Sofia Mazzotta (Billerica, Mass.), who made her first career start and cashed in an 11-point, five-rebound, and two-steal outing for the Blue and Green.

After the Jumbos jumped out to an early 14-7 lead, the Gulls responded with a 9-2 run to close out the first knotted up at 16. 

The Jumbos then started the second quarter on an 11-2 spurt to take a 27-18 advantage, but the Gulls continued to hang around. A Shinney floater and a Mazzotta free throw cut the deficit to just five (33-28) heading into the break. 

Right out of the half, Fleming drilled a mid-range jumper, which was then followed by a Mazzotta steal and score to make it a one possession game. After a Jumbos miss on the other end, Mazzotta stepped back and drained a triple to give the Blue and Green its first lead of the day at 35-33. 

Unfortunately for the Gulls, the Jumbos answered with a 15-4 burst to grasp a nine-point lead at 48-39 shortly before the close of the third. Mazzotta forced a foul and drilled two free throws to make it 48-41 heading into the fourth.

The final stanza saw the Jumbos pull away from the Gulls. Tufts outscored Endicott 23-19 in the fourth to close out a 71-60 victory, handing the Gulls their second loss of the season.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Alyssa Garabedian (Cheshire, Mass.) and Cora Nadeau (Newport, Vt.) each logged 32 minutes from off the bench.
• First matchup between the two programs since 2/14/2011.
• Head Coach Jamie Insel previously served as the assistant to Tufts Head Coach Jill Pace from 2019-22.
• The Gulls outscored the Jumbos eight to four in fastbreak points.
• Tufts dominated the paint, outscoring the Gulls 40-26 from inside.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (1-2) heads to Coast Guard on Saturday for a 12 PM road contest. Tufts (2-0) welcomes Babson on Friday in a 5:30 PM tipoff.  

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(Photo Credit - Kaeli Talora '25)