SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (January 13, 2024) – The Western New England women's basketball team fell short on Saturday afternoon, ending their seven-game win streak at the hands of the Gulls of Endicott College, dropping a 63-56 CCC contest from the Alumni Healthful Living Center.

Records:

• Endicott College: 9-5, 5-2 CCC
• Western New England: 11-4, 5-2 CCC

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears wasted little time getting on the board after Lilly Hedge connected on a jumper to open the scoring in the game. Endicott and Western New England would go back and forth all quarter long, with Sarah Dempsey scoring the next bucket of the game, this time for the Gulls. Just five points total would be had through the first half of the first quarter until Tara Laugeni splashed a jumper on her old teammates to give the Golden Bears a 5-2 lead. Endicott took their first lead of the game at 7-5 with 3:23 to play when Sarah Dempsey found nothing but net on a jumper while Libby Fleming cashed in a triple for Endicott. Tara Laugeni would erase the Gulls lead with a scored layup and a foul shot to even the score at ten with just under two minutes to play in the quarter. Western New England would see Endicott take a one-point lead at the end of the frame.

Shaina Cooney would spin and turn in a layup to open Western New England's second quarter, while the Gulls would answer with the next nine points of the game to take their biggest lead of the game thus far at eight points, 22-14. Libby Fleming and Taylor Bogdanski would connect on back-to-back three's for EC before Emma Kahn would stop the Gulls run with a made layup with 5:58 to play in the second quarter. Western New England would scratch and claw their way out of the deficit and retake the lead with 36 seconds remaining when Erin Reen cashed in on a three-point chance to give Western New England a 28-26 lead. WNE would take a 30-28 lead into the halftime break.

Neither team would lead by more than two points in the third quarter until the end of the frame. Endicott opened the third with four quick points to take a two-point lead before a three-ball was connected on by Colleen Furlong to give Western New England the lead. The scoring would go back and forth until Emma Novajasky and Tara Laugeni paired up for three points with 1:48 to play, as WNE would take a 42-40 lead. Paige Winter would splash a three-ball with 16 seconds remaining, though the three would be answered at the buzzer by Chole Bindon to even the score at 45 heading into the final quarter of the game.

With the score even at 50 heading into the final half of the fourth quarter, both teams would press to look to gain an edge. Emma Kahn and Paige Winter would drop a layup and a jumper to give Western New England a 54-52 lead with 4:09 to play before Endicott would go on a 5-0 run to take a three-point lead with 1:14 to play. Caitlyn Hunt would swish home two free throws to drop Endicott's lead to one with 22 seconds remaining, though Sarah Dempsey would go a perfect 6/6 in the final 22 seconds of the game on free throws to ice the game for Endicott, as the Golden Bears would fall for the first time since November 29, 2023, dropping a 63-56 contest to Endicott.

Inside the Numbers:

• The Golden Bears shot just 35% from the field and cashed in on 4/15 three balls in the game. Tara Laugeni led WNE with 16 points on 7/15 shooting while grabbing seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks in the game.
• Sophomore Paige Winter matched her career high with ten points on the afternoon, shooting 4/7 from the field, including 2/4 from deep, while collecting two rebounds and an assist in the loss.
• Western New England would be outrebounded 46-34 in the game.
  Sarah Dempsey nailed 9/10 free throws for the Gulls, including six in the final seconds to put the game on ice for the Gulls. The junior finished the game with a team-best 19 points.
• The game featured 15 lead changes and a tie score 12 different times.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England looks to get back on track with a win over Gordon College on the road on Wednesday, January 17 at 5:30 PM.