Women’s Basketball Shoots Past Salem State 71-60

Framingham, Mass. – Junior forward Kia Minor (Edgartown, Mass.) tallied a game-high 18 points to help the Framingham State University women's basketball team secure a 71-60 victory over Salem State University this evening in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women's basketball action at Framingham's Athletic Center.

With the win, the Rams improve to 12-10 on the year and 3-7 in the MASCAC, while the loss drops the Vikings to 9-13 overall and 5-4 in the MASCAC.

Minor led four Rams in double figures with her 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, while sophomore guard Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) chipped in 16 points, seven boards and three assists.  Junior guard Madeleine Park (Blue Hill, ME) and freshman guard Nicole Bostic (North Easton, Mass.) also recorded double figures with 15 and 10 points respectively.  Bostic filled the stat sheet with a game-high seven assists and seven boards.

The Vikings were led by senior forward Breanna Comeau's (Amesbury, Mass.) team-best 17 points and 12 boards.  Comeau connected on 7-of-15 from the floor and grabbed seven offensive boards.  Junior Bridget Dullea (Peabody, Mass.) added 14 points, while sophomore Ginny Fleming (Peabody, Mass.) and freshman Rachael Carter (Merrimack, NH) added 13 and 10 respectively.

The Rams took advantage of the Vikings slow start, 1-of their first-5 with four turnovers, and jumped out to an 8-2 lead just over four minutes into the game.  Back-to-back threes from Hoffman and Park and Minor put back extended the lead to 16-4 with 13:44 left in the half. 

The Rams started the game 7-of-11 from the field (63%) and finished the half shooting 45% from the field. The Vikings connected on just 16% from the floor in the first half (5-32) as the Rams extended their lead to as many as 19 taking a 35-16 advantage into the locker room.

Framingham State maintained the lead throughout the second half, but the Vikings were able to cut the lead down to single digits on several occasions.  Every time the Vikings made a run, the Rams answered with a spurt of their own to push the lead back up.  With 2:30 remaining a Fleming jumper in the paint cut the deficit to 63-54.  A pair of Hoffman freebies pushed the lead back to 11, but back-to-back baskets from Carter and Comeau cut the Rams lead to seven.  That was as close as the Vikings would get as the Rams went 6-of-6 from the line in the final minute to seal the win.

The Rams shot 42% from the floor in the game (27-65) to just 32% for the Vikings (23-73), but the Vikings held a 21-15 advantage on the offensive glass.

The Rams return to MASCAC action on Saturday at MCLA at 1 p.m., while the Vikings travel to Fitchburg State also on Saturday at 1 p.m.