WOMEN'S HOOP SOARS PAST GULLS, 63-52

BOSTON, Mass. – The Emmanuel College Women's Basketball Team upended the visiting Gulls of Endicott College, 63-52, on Tuesday night in non-conference action played in the Jean Yawkey Center.  The Saints improved to 6-3 with the win, while the Gulls fell to 5-2 with the set-back.  Emmanuel has now defeated Endicott in all seventeen meetings between these two programs, dating back to the 1994 season.

The Saints opened the game with good hoops on their first three possessions, before Endicott got on the board with a bucket in the paint from Samantha Crough (Cohasset, Mass.), trailing 6-2.  Emmanuel juniors Vanessa Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) and Britni Mikulanecz (Portland, Me.) scored on the break to give the Saints an early 10-2 lead, forcing a Gulls' timeout just five minutes into the contest.

Emmanuel continued to score inside and Mikulanecz buried another jumper from outside, as the Saints' pressure defense forced turnovers and poor shooting at the opposite end by the Gulls.  Endicott was held to just 7% shooting, connecting on only one of their 14 field goal attempts in the opening ten minutes of action.  A pair of free throws by rookie guard Olivia Marks (Canterbury, Conn.) gave the Saints a 22-3 lead at the ten-minute mark.

A three-ball from the right wing by Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) ended the drought for Endicott just thirty second later.  Emmanuel continued to streak, however, as Bramante drained a trey of her own to go up 27-6 with eight minutes left in the half.

Buckets by Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and Crough boosted the Gulls into double-figures with three and a half minutes to go in the half.  Whall stuck a trifecta and Jennifer White (Lisbon, N.H.) knocked down a pair from the line to set the score at 31-19 at the 2:30 mark.

A jumper in the paint by Marks and a put-back on the break by Lena Negri (Arlington, Va.) capped a solid first-half of shooting by the Saints, as the hosts took a 39-21 advantage into the break at halftime.  The Gulls shot just 23.1% (6-26) from the floor for the half and were out-rebounded by the Saints, 31-20.

Negri, who was named to the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Weekly Honor Roll on Monday, led all scorers at the break with 11 points off of 5-10 shooting. Bramante and Marks added 7 points apiece for the Saints.  Whall was the first-half leader for Endicott with 7 points and 3 rebounds.

Endicott opened the second half with an 11-2 run, forcing a quick Emmanuel timeout with 14:19 on the clock.  Two straight hoops by Whall, including an and-one down low, cut the Gulls' deficit to single digits at 41-32.

Crough hit a runner in the lane to bring Endicott to within seven at 45-38 with just over ten minutes to go.  Early second-half foul trouble by the Saints sent the Gulls to the line numerous times in the early portion of the half, contributing to the visitors' run.

After committing only seven turnovers in the first half, Emmanuel began to force passes inside, turning the ball over ten times in the first fourteen minutes of the second half.  The Gulls capitalized at the opposite end with Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) dialing in from downtown to cut Endicott's deficit to 49-42, nearing the five-minute mark.

Whall drove the baseline and scored before Bramante netted a jumper at the other end to set the score at 55-48 with 2:37 showing on the clock.  After a full timeout by the Saints, Crough stuck twelve-footer to make it a five-point game.

Devin Rauh (Collegeville, Pa.) and Mikulanecz sunk a few of clutch free throws down the stretch, as the Saints survived the Endicott rally, holding on for the 63-52 win.

Negri recorded the game's only double-double with a team-high 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Mikulanecz and Bramante also scored in double figures for the Saints with 15 and 14 points, respectively.  Junior forward Jennifer Bujnowski (Salem, N.H.) was solid on the glass with 10 boards, while Rauh dished out a game-high 5 assists for the Saints.

Crough led the Gulls with her game-high 17 points.  Whall added 16 points off of 7 for 13 shooting, while Cuddy chipped in with 8 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Emmanuel would finish the night with a 52-37 rebounding margin.  Both teams committed 19 turnovers each and the Saints were signaled for 21 fouls, compared to 20 by the Gulls.

The Saints will now break for the remainder of the semester.  Emmanuel plays next in 2014, when the Saints travel to Key Largo, Florida to compete in the Key Largo Classic.  Emmanuel faces Austin College in the tournament opener on January 1st at 6:00 PM.  Endicott plays once more before the New Year.  The Gulls will take on MIT in Cambridge on December 29th at 2:00 PM.