Women's Basketball Wins UMass Boston Tip-Off Tournament with 71-60 Victory over the Beacons

Boston, Mass. – Behind a game-high 24 points from Tournament Most Valuable Player Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.), the Framingham State University women's basketball team won the 2011 University of Massachusetts Boston Women's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament with a 71-60 victory this afternoon over the host Beacons at the Clark Athletic Center. 

Junior forward Kia Minor (Edgartown, Mass.) was named to the All-Tournament team for the Rams who captured their second tournament title in the last three seasons, having won the tournament in 2009.

Hoffman averaged 20.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and four steals a game in the tournament en route to earning MVP honors and led a trio of Rams in double figures in the championship game.  Minor had a solid game for the Rams with 13 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, while freshman guard Nicole Bostic (North Easton, Mass.) chipped in 10.

The Beacons were led by Tasha Bernardez (Roxbury, Mass.) and Lauren Perra (Taunton, Mass.) earned spots on the all-tournament team for the Beacons as they combined for 36 points in the championship game.  Perra scored a team-best 19 in the contest, while Bernardez chipped in 17.  Elisa Ogawa (Yamanashi, Japan) grabbed a game-high 10 boards f or the Beacons, while Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, Mass.) finished just shy of a double double with nine points and seven rebounds.

As a team, Framingham State was 25-for-51 from the field (49%) and 5-of-13 from behind the arc (38.5%), while the Beacons shot 48.5 % (16-for-33) for the game but only 27.3% (9-for-33) in the game's final 20 minutes.

The Rams came out firing in the opening minutes of the game, as they used a 10-2 run to break a 2-2 tie and take a quick 12-4 lead.  UMass responded with a 9-0 run of their own to take a 13-12 lead.

It was back and forth from there in the first half, until the Beacons scored six minutes in the final minute of the half to take a 39-35 lead into the locker room.

The Beacons looked to extend their lead in the second half, but the Rams, led by Hoffman, would take over in the second half and never looked back.  The Rams tied the game for the 7^th time with 14:34 left in the game and used another run to take an 11 point lead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game.  The Rams would maintain the lead down the stretch to secure the victory.

The Rams return to action on November 29^th at Eastern Nazarene at 7 p.m.