Women's Basketball Falls to Endicott in Season-Opener, 95-69

BEVERLY, Mass. -- The Endicott College women's basketball team opened the 2019-2020 season with a 95-69 victory over visiting Bridgewater State University on Wednesday evening at MacDonald Gymnasium. The game marked the season opener for both teams.

Five players finished in double-figure scoring for the host Gulls who broke the game open with a dominant fourth quarter.

Senior guard Emily Pratt (Gardner, Mass.) paced Endicott with a game-high 21 points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. Pratt connected on 8 of 17 field goals and went 3-for-5 from behind the arc.

Senior forward Mikaela Rogers (Haverhill, Mass.) added 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting for the Gulls, while senior guard Kaleigh Putnam (Wallingford, Conn.) tallied 17 points. Rogers also contributed seven rebounds and a pair of steals.

Sophomore forward Morgan Bresnahan (Wilmington, Mass.) and freshman forward Tara Laugeni (Woodbridge, Conn.) also finished in double-figure scoring for the hosts. Bresnahan notched ten points as well as three rebounds, three steals and a pair of blocked shots. Laugeni scored 12 points in 25 minutes off the bench and added eight rebounds (four offensive) and two blocks.

Junior center Destiny Fitzgerald (Medford, Mass.) led Bridgewater State with 16 points, six rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot in 21 minutes off the bench. The Bears also received 12 points from sophomore forward Maggie Hester (Braintree, Mass.), while junior forward Leah Simmons (Abington, Mass.) pulled down a team-high seven rebounds with four coming off the offensive glass.

The Gulls led 38-33 at the break and extended that lead to 64-55 after three quarters of play. A 13-3 run over the first three minutes of the final period put the game out of reach. Putnam scored seven points during the spurt while Rogers tallied four. The Gulls got up by as many as 26 points twice in the fourth quarter as they outscored the Bears 31-14 in the period.

Endicott shot 55% (38-69) for the game, 40% (4-10) from behind the arc and 79% (15-19) at the free throw line. The Gulls also held a 49-38 rebounding advantage and finished with a 50-36 edge in points in the paint.

The Bears connected on 34% (26-77) of their field goal attempts, including just 5-for-28 (18%) from three-point range, and went 12-for-20 (60%) at the free throw line.

Twenty of Bridgewater State's 38 rebounds came off the offensive glass.

The Gulls (1-0) host fifth-ranked Bowdoin College on Saturday afternoon at two. The Bears are off until next Tuesday night when they entertain UMass Dartmouth at seven.