Women’s Basketball Cruises to 84-67 Victory over Salem State

Framingham, Mass. – Junior guard Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) tallied a game-high 27 points including four three pointers to lead the Framingham State University women's basketball team to an 84-67 victory over Salem State University in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women's action at Framingham's Athletic & Recreation Center.

With the win, the Rams improve to 9-5 on the year and even their record at 2-2 in the conference, while the Vikings fall to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in the MASCAC.

In a first half that saw four ties and three lead changes, the Rams took a 34-33 lead into the intermission as senior Kia Minor (Edgartown, Mass.) made a steal and found Hoffman under the basket for the go ahead lay-up.  Hoffman led the Rams with nine first half points, while Minor added eight.  The Vikings were paced in the first half by senior Bridget Dullea (Peabody, Mass.) who tallied nine and sophomore Rachael Carter (Merrimack, NH) who chipped in eight including a pair from long range.

The Rams opened the second half with a 17-0 run and never looked back.  Hoffman and senior Madeleine Park (Blue Hill, ME) nailed a pair from downtown and Minor converted a three point play the old fashioned way to highlight the game deciding spurt.

The Vikings scored their first basket of the second half at the 15:32 mark as Carter hit junior Ginny Fleming (Peabody, Mass.) under the basket for a lay-in to halt the Rams decisive run.

The Rams were able to maintain a sizeable advantage for most of the second half and took their largest lead of the game (82-57) in the closing minutes on a jumper by Park.  The Vikings cut the deficit to 15 in the final minute as Fleming scored four and freshman Valerie Smith (Springfield, Mass.) added two.

Hoffman shot 9-for-11 from the field in game including 4-of-6 from behind the arc en route to her 27 points and she filled the stat sheet with seven boards, four steals and three assists. Minor finished the game with a double double effort of 17 points and a game-high 16 rebounds including 11 on the offensive glass.  Park and sophomore forward Samantha Irvine (Franklin, Mass.) chipped in with 12 points apiece.

The Vikings were led by Dullea who tallied a team-best 15 points including a pair of threes, while Fleming finished with 13 on 5-of-7 shooting from the floor.  Senior Sandra Lanier (Groton, Mass.) and Carter finished with 10 points apiece with Lanier grabbing a team-high seven boards in the game.

Both team resume MASCAC action on Thursday night with the Rams traveling to MCLA for a 5:30 p.m. matchup, while the Vikings host Fitchburg State at 5:30 p.m.