Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 22, 2025) – The Western New England women's basketball team celebrated their 2025 senior class ahead of Saturday's CNE regular-season finale but would not get the result they were looking for, coming away with a 60-55 loss to the visiting Gulls of Endicott College. Despite the loss, WNE locks up the top seed in the upcoming CNE tournament. 

Records:

• Western New England: 23-2, 16-2 CNE
• Endicott College: 20-5, 16-2 CNE

How it Happened:

The Golden Bears opened with the first hoop of the game after celebrating senior day as a pair of seniors, Caitlyn Hunt and Abby Marasco, connected for the Golden Bears to come away with the early lead. Endicott would answer with the next nine points, to open the game on a 9-2 run. Emma Shinney had five early points for the Gulls. WNE would climb back into the game quickly as Hunt would go on a 5-0 scoring by herself, getting Western New England within two after hitting a three and knocking down a pair of free throws. Hunt's five points would start an 11-0 run for the Golden Bears, capped off by Lilly Hedge's layup. Hedge had five points of her own on the run. Shaina Cooney would join the scoring party with 1:15 to play in the first quarter with a tip-back layup. After one-quarter of play, the Golden Bears came away with a two-point lead, 15-13. WNE shot 41% from the field in the opening quarter and out-rebounded Endicott 10-8. 

Endicott had the opening five points in the second quarter, jumping on WNE early. Emma Shinney would get up to 12 points with still 7:26 to play in the second quarter. The Gulls would lead by as many as six in the second quarter but the Golden Bears would fight their way back. Emma Novajasky's first two points of the afternoon were big, coming from the free throw line with 4:16 to play in the second quarter, getting WNE within one, 23-22. Emma Kahn's first bucket came from a distance as the senior nailed a straight-on triple to tie the game at 25. Endicott's all-time leading scorer Sarah Dempsey had the final bucket of the second quarter, coming at the buzzer, giving the Gulls to 27-26 lead after one half. Both teams shot 37.5% from the field in the quarter, with Endicott shooting 6/16 overall and WNE 3/8. 

Colleen Furlong quickly gave Western New England the lead to open the third quarter with a layup that gave WNE a 28-27 lead. Neither team would have greater than a one-point lead until Emma Kahn dropped a jumper with 5:25 to play in the quarter, giving WNE a 36-34 lead. The Gulls would go on an 8-0 run following, as Tenley Wallin would heat up for Endicott from the floor, helping the Gulls take an eight-point lead with 2:16 to play. The Gulls escaped with a six-point edge after three-quarters of play, scoring 20 points in the third quarter to WNE's 15. The Gulls shot 50% from the floor in the third quarter while WNE was slightly lower, shooting 6/15 overall from the floor. 

Caitlyn Hunt provided a spark to open the fourth after getting a layup to fall while sinking the free throw, dropping EC's lead to three. The Gulls would get their lead back up with eight as Sarah Dempsey would hit a jumper from the corner. Western New England would get within two quickly as Shaina Cooney dropped a layup while four points would come from Perry Blasetti, coming away with two steals. Sarah Dempsey responded with a layup but the Golden Bears would not go away, as Cooney got to the rim for two, getting WNE back within two, 57-55 with 51 seconds to play. The Gulls would hit their late free throws and would come away with a 60-55 win over the Golden Bears, taking down WNE for their first home loss of the season. 

Inside the Lines:

• In the final frame, Western New England shot just 35% from the field, shooting 38% for the game. WNE made five of their 18 threes and hit ten of 15 free throws. 
• Lilly Hedge had 11 points to lead WNE to go along with seven rebounds, two assists, and a steal. 
• Caitlyn Hunt picked up ten points, two rebounds, and an assist. 
• Emma Shinney led Endicott with 21 points on 7/20 shooting, going 2/6 from three. Shinney had four rebounds and three assists overall.
• Sarah Dempsey had a double-double for the Gulls, recording 13 points and ten rebounds on the day. 
• Endicott has defeated WNE in back-to-back road games whereas Western New England has defeated Endicott twice in a row on the road as well. 
• Despite the loss, Western New England locked up the one seed, tied with Endicott at 15-2 atop the conference. Because WNE was 2-0 against Roger Williams University (the three seed), and Endicott was 1-1, WNE became the top seed due to the Conference of New England tiebreakers. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• As the one seed, WNE receives a bye in the opening round of the CNE tournament and will host the CNE semifinals on Thursday, February 27 at a time to be determined.