BEVERLY, Mass. (January 11, 2025) – The Golden Bears traveled to conference foes Endicott College on Saturday afternoon. WNE would outscore Endicott by ten in the final quarter to earn the 71-63 win. Three Golden Bears finished with double digits during the win. Lilly Hedge finished the afternoon with a team-high 16 points. Perry Blasetti and Paige Winter finished the game with 11 points.

Records:

• Western New England: 12-1, 5-1 CNE
• Endicott College: 9-4, 5-1 CNE

How it Happened:

The Gulls would win the tip-off to start the contest, but it was Shaina Cooney who got the Golden Bears on the board first with a layup following an offensive rebound. The Gulls would respond with eight consecutive points, four of which came after two WNE turnovers. Alyssa Garabedian led the Gulls on that 8-0 run with four points. The Golden Bears would play back into the game with a 6-2 run which saw Colleen Furlong knock down WNE's first three-point shot of the afternoon. The score was 10-8 with 3:15 remaining in the opening quarter. The teams would trade shots after that to finish out the first quarter. A quarter that saw Endicott lead at the conclusion, 14-10. Endicott was 6 of 13 from the field in the first quarter and was winning the turnover battle by causing four WNE turnovers compared to the three turnovers they had. WNE was 4 of 15 from the field and 1 of 3 from beyond the arc and led the rebound battle 11-7.

The Golden Bears started the second frame on fire. They scored the first 7 points of the second, and Sophie Hedge had five points during the 7-0 run to give the Golden Bears a 17-14 lead 1:25 into the second. Emma Shinney would try to halt the WNE momentum with a jump shot a minute later, but the Golden Bears would keep attacking the basket. The teams traded baskets, with Avery Brown hitting Endicott's first three of the game to tie up the contest just under halfway through the second quarter. Endicott would go on a quick 6-0 run with under 3:30 left in the half. Emma Shinney made two of the three baskets during that run. Then, WNE ended the half with four consecutive points to cut the Endicott lead to only one going into the halftime break. Endicott had the edge in field goal percentage during the first half, making 13 of 31 field goals (41.9%), and WNE made 10 of 29 shots (34.5%). Sophie Hedge led the Golden Bears with seven points and two assists in the opening half. Emma Shinney led the Gulls with ten points and two assists. The teams battled in the first half, but it was Endicott leading 30-29 after 20 minutes of play.

The teams would trade baskets early in the second half. The Golden Bears would match each Endicott basket early, and Lilly Hedge would pull up from downtown to tie the game with a three less than two minutes into the third frame. With the Golden Bears trailing by one with 4:35 left in the third quarter, Paige Winter sparked a 7-0 WNE run with a three. That was followed by a couple of free throws from Lilly Hedge and a Perry Blasetti layup to give the Golden Bears their largest lead (6) up to that point. The Gulls did not shy away from the competition, though. They matched the Golden Bears' run and went even further with one of their own. An 8-0 run to end the half, fueled by free throws from Emma Shinney and Sarah Dempsey, plus another Avery Brown three-pointer. The third quarter ended with the Gulls adding one point to their first-half lead, and despite the Golden Bears' great start to the second half, the Gulls led 49-47 after three quarters of play. The Golden Bears bench had really stepped up through the first three quarters of the game, putting up nearly half of the team's total points with 22.

The Golden Bears started the fourth quarter with a 10-3 run over the first 3:40. Lilly Hedge was responsible for half of those points through a jump shot, a layup, and a free throw. That would put WNE up by five before a WNE timeout halted the action for 30 seconds. The Golden Bears caused multiple turnovers throughout the opening stages of the fourth quarter to help build their lead. A lead that would get up to seven with 5:30 left in the game. Paige Winter would add a three-pointer later in the final quarter to raise the WNE lead to nine, and after an Endicott free throw, the Golden Bears would tack on two more points to lead by ten with 2:32 left in the conference contest. The Gulls would fight back with five points in a row to cut the WNE lead to five, but they were not able to get much closer than that. WNE won the game 71-63, with the big difference coming from WNE's bench scoring almost half of their points. They finished the game with a 42.9% field goal percentage compared to the Gulls' 40%.

Inside the Lines:

• Three Golden Bears concluded today's game scoring in the double digits. Lilly Hedge led the team with 16 points and two assists.
• Perry Blasetti and Paige Winter scored 11 points, with Winter going 2-3 from behind the arc and tallying four assists. Blasetti grabbed six rebounds and notched one assist.
• The Golden Bears shot 42.9% from the field during the conference clash. They would win the turnover battle by causing 17 turnovers compared to 12 caused by Endicott.
• WNE's bench led the Golden Bears to victory, with 35 of the 71 points being scored off the bench. WNE once again led the attack from the paint, with over half of their points coming from the paint.
• Alyssa Garabedian led the Gulls with 15 points and two assists. Avery Brown added 14 points for Endicott, with all four Endicott three-pointers.
• With this win, the Golden Bears picked up back-to-back wins over the Gulls for the first time since the 2016-2017 season. The Golden Bears end Saturday with a 71-63 win over the Gulls.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The women's basketball team will return to campus for a showdown with the Fighting Scots of Gordon College on Wednesday, January 15, 2025. The Golden Bears look to win their third consecutive game against the Fighting Scots after winning both matchups last season.