Endicott takes Women’s Basketball out of CCC Tournament

Box Score BRISTOL, R.I. – The Roger Williams University Women's Basketball was upended 73-59 by Endicott College in the quarterfinal round of the Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament.

Roger Williams, entering the tournament as the #2 seed, had reached the semifinal round in each of the past three seasons. Endicott snaps the Hawks' ten-game winning streak and picks up the first win over RWU in five games.

Bridget Quilty (Duxbury, Mass.) opened the game with a layup before Endicott scored ten straight points, capped by a three-pointer from Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.). The Hawks managed to rally back, with a fadeaway jumper by Lisa Lutz (Downers Grove, Ill.) knotting the game at 13 apiece.

However, Endicott stormed right back out with seven straight points. From there, the Gulls not let the Hawks retake the lead over the remainder of the half. Roger Williams pulled within three on multiple occasions in the period, but the Gulls would come up with the stop before the Hawks could capitalize.

Endicott held a slim 34-31 lead entering the second half. The Hawk offense stalled early in the period, as the team only scored six points in the first seven minutes of play. Over that stretch, the Gulls managed to build the lead to eight.

Roger Williams rallied back later in the half, with Rachel Battista (Johnston, R.I.) tying the game at 47 with a trey, followed by Quilty knocking down a shot for the Hawks' first lead since the opening minute. Yet back-to-back threes by Wright quickly brought the Gulls back on top by four.

The turning point for Endicott came with just under three minutes to play. Leading 62-57, Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) and Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) grabbed a pair of key offensive rebounds to drive over a minute off the clock. Cuddy would then put back a missed shot to give the Gulls a seven-point advantage with 1:32 left to play.

In the final minute, the Hawks were forced to foul to keep hope alive, but the Gulls sank nine of its final 11 attempts at the charity stripe to extend the lead and make their way to the semifinals.

Endicott's starters accounted for 68 of the 73 points in the game, with Wright leading with way with 17. Shaw finished just shy of a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Cuddy added 16 points and seven boards.

Battista led the Hawks with 15 points off the bench. Quilty added 12 points and eight boards, while Ariola went for 11 points, three assists, and two steals.

Roger Williams (19-7) will find out its postseason fate on Monday, while Endicott (12-14) heads to Curry on Thursday for the CCC Semifinals.

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