Women's Basketball Falls to Endicott in ECAC First Round

Kaleigh Anderson (@KaleighAnd1)

BEVERLY, Mass. –The Elms College women's basketball team fell during the first round of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) tournament to host Endicott College 92-56. With the loss, the Blazers end their campaign posting a 15-13 overall record, while the Gulls improve to 17-11 and will continue on to the second round of tournament action.

As the first quarter got underway the Gulls were able to clinch the first tally on the scoreboard with a layup off the hands of Gabriella Coppola (Watertown, Mass.) at the 9:31 mark. The Blazers would respond with an Alexandra Marques (Newington, Conn.) defensive rebound to produce a double from Maira Pantoja (East Windsor, Conn.) to put Elms on the board. Emily Burr (East Hartford, Conn.) crashed the boards once again for the Blazers giving them their first lead of the evening 4-2 at the 8 minute marker. The Gulls would continue on a 14-3 rally led by Hannah Kieran (Wenham, Mass.) with six. The stint included two three point blasts from Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, ME.) and Coppola to put the Gulls up 18-7 at the four minute tally. Elms would continue on with a jumper from Mariah Brown in an effort to close in on the deficit but the Gulls once again widened the gap posting another big three from Shaw. Elms ended the quarter producing two back to back layups off the hands of Nakia Mabin (Bridgeport, Conn.) and JC Pickett (Chicopee, Mass.) , however Endicott would head into the second owning a 26-13 score.

The Blazers came out on fire at the start of the second as Mackenzie LaRochelle (Chicopee, Mass.) nailed a deep jumper to spark a six point run as the squad closed in on Endicott's lead posting a 26-19 score. A Marques foul would then send Shaw to the line to easily secure two for the Gulls with a 6:47 clock. The Blazers remained silent until a Pickett layup at 4:42 found its home off the glass sparking another surge for the Elms as they continued on a 7-2 stint led by Pantoja with a deep three at the 2:32 marker keeping the deficit within ten. Despite a Mabin layup and extra tally at the charity stripe the Blazers headed to the locker room with the disadvantage on a 44-30 scoreboard.

Pantoja kicked things off in the third for Elms sinking a jumper 24 seconds in to keep hopes alive. Sarah Hood (Burlington, Mass.) would answer for the Gulls with a double of her own to which Elms would combat with back to back Pickett and Burr layups to produce a 47-36 scoreboard at the 8:40 mark. Steady play would ensue as both teams had opportunities down the stretch. Mabin would post a team high six in the quarter for Elms going 3-for-5 from the field, while Burr and Pickett would produce four tallies apiece for the blazer squad. With 1:19 remaining in the quarter Nabin would highlight the Elms scoreboard ending on three back to back layup attempts sending Elms into the fourth on a 70-47 scoreboard.

Kiernan fired first during the final quarter sinking a quick jumper for Endicott. The Gulls would send Burr to the charity stripe where she would collect one in the effort. Pickett produced a team high four tallies in the quarter going 2-for-4 from the field against the Gulls as well as Burr collecting four, including sinking her final three of the season at the 4:21 marker. Melissa Robinson (White River Junction, VT.) closed out the quarter for Elms hitting a final free throw with 13 seconds remaining to post a 92-56 score.

The Blazers were paced by Pickett totaling a team high 15 points going 7-for-16 on the floor while collecting eight rebounds. Mabin collected 11 points on the night going 5-for-8 on the floor. 

The Gulls were paced by game high scorer Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) tallying 21 points and eight rebounds in the effort.  Shaw totaled 16 for Endicott going 6-for-10 on the floor.

The Blazers totaled 33.3% from the field (23-69), including 53.3% from the free throw line (8-15). The Wildcats shot 48.7% from the floor (37-76) and 57.9% from the foul line (11-19). 

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