Box Score BEVERLY, Mass.--Ali Pessolano scored 12 points and Katie Eckert made five free throws late to lead the Western New England University women's basketball team to a 53-49 road upset of Endicott College in Commonwealth Coast Conference action at the Post Center on Saturday. The visiting Golden Bears even their record to 7-7 overall and 4-4 in the CCC, while the Gulls slip to 10-4 and 6-2.

The senior captains' leadership were invaluable in the victory despite being outrebounded 42-30. Pessolano drained a three-pointer from the right elbow for a 48-42 lead with 2 minutes and 53 seconds left in the game, and Eckert scored her only points of the afternoon by going 5-for-6 at the charity stripe down the stretch to seal it.

Samantha Crough and Kayleen Whall paced Endicott with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Both teams made 18 field goals and 11 free throws but WNE's perimeter game was better as the Golden Bears made six 3-pointers to Endicott's two.

After a slow start for both squads, WNE sophomore Chelsea Vujs (9 points) ended the stalemate at 17:40 as she broke the ice with a quick jumper. Endicott answered back as sophomore Kelsey Cuddy hit a shot from long range. The Golden Bears came back with five unanswered points before the Gulls responded with Cuddy and Whall drawing fouls to get to the line three times in two minutes to make it a one-point game at 9-7 in WNE's favor.

Vujs was on her mark as she tallied a three-pointer and a pair from the charity stripe to make it a 14-9 game with 8:27 remaining in the half. After a Shaylyn Sicard jumper for a 19-12 WNE lead, the Blue and Green turned the tables by scoring eight consecutive points--the last being from senior Julie Manning which took the lead for the Gulls with 1:40 remaining. Western New England freshman Paige Young's lay-up accounted for the final points of the first half.

Western New England held a slim 21-20 halftime lead thanks to a tenacious defense that forced 14 Endicott turnovers.

In the second half, Jennifer White hit a three-pointer to give the Gulls' their biggest lead of the game at 25-21 53 seconds in.

But after consecutive buckets by junior Samantha McCann on a trey and lay-up by Pessolano, Western New England took the lead for good at 26-25 with 16:26 to go--building as much as a nine-point cushion before holding off the hosts in the end.

Western New England stays on the road with a date at CCC opponent Salve Regina, while the Gulls travel to Wentworth.