Women's Basketball Opens Season with 86-63 Win Over Southern Vermont
Boston, Mass. - Senior forward Toya Chester (North Attleboro, MA) netted a game high 25 points on an 8-11 shooting performance to lead the Framingham State College women's basketball team over Southern Vermont College, 86-63, in the opening round of the 2009 Tip-Off Classic this evening at the Clark Athletic Center on the campus of University of Massachusetts Boston. The Rams improve to 1-0 on the season, while the loss drops the Mountaineers to 0-2.
Framingham State will now face UMass Boston, a 64-31 winner over Pine Manor College, in tomorrow's championship game at 3:00 p.m., while Southern Vermont meets Pine Manor in the consolation contest at 1:00 p.m.
Framingham State never trailed as it shot an impressive 48.5 percent from the floor for the game (32-66). The Rams were able to score 36 points off of Mountaineer turnovers which in the end was too much of a margin for the visitors to overcome.
With 15:59 left to play in the first half, a Chester three-pointer put Framingham State on top 12-4, giving it the eight point advantage which would be its largest margin until the final minutes of the half. Southern Vermont was able to scrap together a 10-4 run, capped with a layup by sophomore guard Kristen Cummings (New Britain, CT) at 10:48 cutting the lead to 16-14, FSC.
Over the next five minutes, the squads played evenly, trading buckets over several possessions. With 5:52 remaining in the half, it was a two-point game as Framingham State held the slim 25-23 margin.
Over the next 4:10, the Rams would go on a 12-0 run fueled by four points on two field goals from freshman forward Michelle Hagerty (Somerville, MA), to give Framingham State its largest lead of the game at 37-23 with 1:42 to play in the half.
The Mountaineers answered with a 6-0 spurt of their own on back-to-back three pointers by sophomore guard Alyssa Davis (West Burke, VT), to make it 37-29 with 27 ticks left in the first, before the Rams took a 39-29 lead into the break.
Nine seconds into the second half, sophomore guard Rachel Pannell (Detroit, MI) scored a layup to pull Southern Vermont back within a single digit deficit, cutting the Rams lead to 39-31, but it was the closest the Mountaineers would get as Framingham State would go out and shoot 51.5 percent from the floor in the half (17-33) en route to the victory. Chester netted 11 of her 25 points in the frame and was a perfect 4-4 from the floor in half.
Davis finished the night with 15 points to lead the Mountaineers while sophomore guard Joa Claircius (Clermont, FL) chipped in with 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two steals in the losing effort.
For the Rams, sophomore forward Emily Clark (Melrose, MA) netted 16 points to go along with eight boards, four blocks and an assist. Freshman forward Kia Minor (Oak Bluffs, MA) was a rebound away from a double-double, scoring 13 while pulling down nine rebounds. Rounding out the game's double digit scorers was junior guard Nicole McConaghy (Medford, MA) who dropped 10 points, dished out a game-high seven assists, to go along with five steals and five rebounds.
Release courtesy of UMass Boston Sports Information.