Western New England’s Streak Ends with 52-48 Loss to Endicott

Carlson scores career-high 21 points for Golden Bears

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 13, 2019) – The Western New England University women's basketball team had its season-best seven-game winning streak brought to an end with a 52-48 loss to Endicott College on Wednesday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Top Performers
Junior forward Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) produced a career-high 21 points and seven rebounds for the Golden Bears, while classmate Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) added 11 points, six boards and four assists.

Endicott was led by junior guard Emily Pratt (Gardner, Mass.), who scored a game-high 24 points to go with three rebounds, three steals and three assists. Senior Catie Lipscomb (West Springfield, Mass.) chipped in with seven points, six boards and two assists for the Gulls.

Game Review
Western New England fell into an early hole, as the Golden Bears missed their first five field goal attempts and Endicott opened up a 6-0 lead 1:19 into the contest.

Junior Emily Farrell (New Fairfield, Conn.) connected from beyond the arc to get Western New England on the board midway through the quarter, but the Golden Bears faced a 15-10 deficit after ten minutes of play as Pratt hit a three-pointer late in the frame.

The Gulls scored the first five points of the second quarter to claim their first double-digit advantage (20-10). Trailing 23-12 at the 6:41 mark, Western New England used a 6-0 run with four points from Carlson to get to within five, but Endicott pushed its lead back to ten (30-20) on a Morgan Bresnahan (Wilmington, Mass.) jumper that capped a 7-2 spurt with 3:15 left in the half. The Gulls went on to hold a 30-22 lead at the break.

Western New England utilized a strong third quarter effort to get back into the contest. Carlson scored the first six points of the period, before the Golden Bears tied the game (31-31) on a Lauren Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) triple at the 7:28 mark. Less than a minute later, Western New England pulled ahead for the first time (34-33) when Carlson completed a three-point play.

The Golden Bears held their largest lead of the night (39-35) following an Emily Scurka (Billerica, Mass.) layup and free throw with 2:37 left in the third, but Endicott closed out the frame with a 7-0 run and regained the lead (42-39) heading into the fourth on a corner three-pointer by Lipscomb.

Endicott's momentum continued into the fourth quarter, as Pratt scored the first five points of the frame to extend the Gulls' lead to eight (47-39).

Western New England was able to close the gap to four (47-43) following a basket by Sydney Fisher (Strafford, N.H.) with 4:41 to play, but both teams went cold over the next four minutes as the Golden Bears faced the same deficit with under a minute remaining.

A steal by senior Meghan Gilhool (Montrose, Pa.) led to a Carlson layup as Western New England pulled to within two (47-45) with 41 seconds left, but the Golden Bears got no closer.

Endicott pushed its lead back to six (51-45) at the charity stripe, and the Gulls withstood a late triple by Orbann to hang on for the win.

Notes
• Western New England was limited to 31.1% shooting, including 17.6 percent from long range. Endicott shot 34.5 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc.
• Four of Western New England's five starters recorded 5+ rebounds – Gilhool (9), Carlson (7), Chadwick (6) & Orbann (6).

Up Next
The regular season slate concludes on Saturday, as Western New England (16-8, 8-5 CCC) travels to Roger Williams and Endicott (17-7, 13-2 CCC) hosts Gordon.