Women’s Basketball Upended at Endicott, 74-54

BEVERLY, Mass.- The Eastern Nazarene College women's basketball team endured a 74-54 setback at Endicott Saturday afternoon.

The Lions move to 10-11 on the year and 4-10 in Commonwealth Coast Conference play with the loss. The Gulls improve to 12-9 overall and 10-4 in the league with the victory.

Alyssa Cosio Murillo (Santa Barbara, Calif.) scored a team-high 11 points in the contest. Tia Torio (Manteca, Calif.) chipped in with nine points, five rebounds, and three assists. Seniesha Sekaquaptewa (Scottsdale, Ariz.) netted nine points and grabbed four boards. Stella Dulay (Santa Marita, Calif.) tallied seven points off the bench while Shelby Holmes (Seeley Lake, Mont.) finished with six points and nine rebounds.

The home team grabbed a six-point lead on a three-pointer by Gabriella Coppola with 2:14 remaining in the opening quarter before extending its advantage to 17-10 just before the end of the period.

Endicott started the second frame on a 7-0 run to widen the gap to 24-10 with 8:10 left to play in the quarter.

The Gulls stretched their lead to 20 points with 3:22 to go in the second, 37-17, as Coppola connected on her second trey of the game.

The hosts outscored the visitors 26-11 in the second period to carry a 43-21 lead into the halftime intermission.

Tia Torio paced the Lions at the midpoint with eight points and three boards while Cosio Murillo chipped in with seven points.

Eastern Nazarene shot 22.6% in the first half and sank just 2-of-11 attempts from behind the arc. Endicott posted a field-goal percentage of 51.5% at the break to go with 60% shooting from three-point range.

The Lions utilized a late 12-4 run, capped off by a three-pointer by Sekaquaptewa with 10 seconds remaining in the quarter, to trim the deficit to 60-42 heading into the fourth frame.

The Gulls narrowly edged Eastern Nazarene 14-12 in fourth-quarter scoring to clinch their fourth-straight win.

The Lions finished with a field-goal percentage of 29.3% while making 5-of-19 from beyond the three-point line. Endicott shot 50% from the floor and 43.8% from long distance on the day.

Up next, Eastern Nazarene returns home to face Roger Williams February 7.