Women’s Basketball Suffers First CCC Loss at Endicott, 56-47

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Western New England University women's basketball team was limited to 26.2 percent shooting from the field in a 56-47 loss to Endicott College on Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at MacDonald Gymnasium.

Top Performers
Senior forward Meghan Orbann (East Hampton, Conn.) and junior guard Lauren Chadwick (Gardiner, Maine) led the Golden Bears with ten points each. Orbann also recorded seven rebounds and two assists while Chadwick had four boards and one assist. Senior guard Emily Farrell (New Fairfield, Conn.) contributed nine points, two rebounds, two steals, one block and one assist.

For the Gulls, senior guard Emily Pratt (Gardner, Mass.) produced a game-high 17 points to go with eight rebounds, two steals and one assist. Senior guard Kaleigh Putnam (Wallingford, Conn.) added 14 points, five assists, four boards and three blocks, while sophomore forward Morgan Bresnahan (Wilmington, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.

Game Review
Western New England missed its first eight shots from the field as Endicott built an early 9-0 advantage with four points from Bresnahan. The Golden Bears eventually found their offensive rhythm, making five of their final ten field goal attempts in the period to pull to within six (16-10) at the conclusion of the first quarter.

Western New England closed the gap to three (20-17) following a Chadwick layup with 3:28 left in the half, but the Gulls closed out the frame with a 7-0 run to extend their lead into double figures (27-17) at the break. Bresnahan again fueled Endicott offensively with five points over the 2:32 of the half.

The home team's lead, which was down to six (31-25) at the 6:37 mark of the third quarter, reached ten (35-25) after Putnam sank a pair of free throws 41 seconds later. The Gulls led by as much as 14 (43-29) with 1:55 on the clock before taking a 12-point cushion (45-33) into the fourth quarter.

Western New England battled its way back into the game in the final period, scoring the first seven points of the frame to cut the deficit to five (45-40) with just under six minutes to play. After the Gulls responded with a 4-0 spurt to push the lead back to nine (49-40), the Golden Bears made one final rally.

Orbann knocked down a pair of free throws at the 3:40 mark to make it a five-point game (49-44), and senior Courtney Carlson (Woodbury, Conn.) connected on 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 2:38 remaining to get Western New England within four.

Endicott limited the Golden Bears to 1-for-5 shooting down the stretch, however, as the Gulls held on to secure the win.   

Notes
• The loss snaps Western New England's six-game winning streak.
• The Golden Bears shot a season-low 26.2% from the field and connected on just 1-of-18 three-point attempts.
• Chadwick reached the 10-point mark for the first time this season.

Up Next
Western New England (7-2, 2-1 CCC) is off until Thursday, January 2^nd, when the Golden Bears host Westfield State in non-conference action. Endicott (3-4, 1-1 CCC) travels to Salve Regina on Tuesday.