Women’s Basketball Opens Season With Win Over Emerson; 77-53

Boston, Mass. – The Framingham State women's basketball team opened up the 2015-16 campaign with a 77-53 win over Emerson College on Saturday afternoon. It was the first contest for both squads this season.

Sophomore Raegan Mulherin (Baldwinville, Mass.) led all players with 21 points while Quinn O'Connell (Sterling, Mass.) put up 18 off the bench for the Rams.

The Lions got strong performances off the bench from Natalie Busch (Weybridge, England) and Charlie Boyle (Scotts Valley, CA) who scored 14 points apiece.

The 1^st quarter ended tied at 11 when the Rams went on a 9-0 run to open the 2^nd frame which featured a Mulherin layup & three-pointer putting the vistors up 20-11. After cutting the Rams lead to 25-20 FSU went on another 9-0 run to bring the score to 34-20. Mulherin drained a shot just before the buzzer to take 40-29 lead into the half.

The two squads played a back-and-forth 3^rd quarter entering the final frame with the Rams leading 57-45. Boyle scored the opening basket for the Lions in the 4^th quarter to cut the deficit to 10 points but the Rams would go on a 13-1 run over the next seven minutes to seal the victory.

The Rams were 28-of-73 (38.4%) from the floor and 5-of-15 from beyond the arc. Emerson shot 16-for-51 from the floor and was only 4-of-23 from long range. The Lions shot 77.3% from the line while FSU only converted 57% from the stripe.

Both teams will compete on day 2 of the Emerson Tip-Off Tournament on Sunday. The Rams will play the winner Saturday's second game between Suffolk & UMaine Farmington. The Lions will play to losers of Saturday's second game.