Hoffman's 22 Leads Women's Basketball Past Lasell, 67-53
Newton, Mass. – Sophomore guard Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) led all scorers with a game-high 22 points including five three pointers to lead the Framingham State University women's basketball team to a 67-53 road victory this afternoon over the Lasell College Lasers.
Framingham opened up the game with two three pointers and jumped out to an early 8-0 lead but Lasell was able to answer with a 14-0 run of their own. JoAnna Bishop (South Burlington, VT) put the Lasers on the board with a jump shot at 17:14. Freshman Justine Ryan (Norwood, Mass.) hit two three pointers and a lay-up during the 14-0 spurt to bring the score to 14-8 with 13:24 remaining in the half.
Hoffman then hit one of her five three pointers to end the Rams scoring drought. The next four minutes saw the teams trading baskets, and then Framingham went on a 12-1 run to bring the score to 25-19 in favor of the visitors with 6:37 remaining in the half. Ryan hit two more threes and Hoffman hit one more as the game tightened up with Framingham State taking a 34-32 lead at the break.
Ashley Fry (South Kingston, RI) opened up the second half with a lay-up to tie the score, but it was short lived as Hoffman hit another three for the Rams. Most of the second half saw the teams trading baskets and keeping the score close, but the Rams held onto the lead.
Freshman Alexis Chappell (Springfield, Mass.) made a layup followed by a three point shot to bring the score to 54-52 in favor of the visitors with 4:18 remaining. Hoffman hit another three though to bring the Ram's lead back up to five. The Lasers were not able to get any closer in the final minutes and the Rams hit five consecutive free throws to hold on for the win.
Hoffman finished the game 7-of12 from the floor including 5-of-9 from behind to go along with four rebounds, four assists and a pair of steals. Along with Hoffman, freshman Nicole Bostic (North Easton, Mass.) and sophomore Cassie Liston (Stoneham, Mass.) also recorded double digits for the Rams with Bostic scoring 14 and Liston chipping in 11. Senior forward Emily Clark (Melrose, Mass.) had a solid game for the Rams with six points and a game-high eight boards.
Ryan led Lasell with 18 points, including going 5-8 from behind the arc. Chappell put up 16 points and grabbed five rebounds in the loss.
With the win, Framingham improves to 4-2 on the season and will be in action again next Saturday when they host Curry College at 1 p.m. The Lasers fall to 0-7 on the season and will play again at Fitchburg State on Tuesday, December 6th at 7 p.m.