Women's Basketball Downed at Johnson & Wales

Providence, RI – The Framingham State University women's basketball team dropped their second straight road game as they were defeated 61-56 this evening by Johnson & Wales University in a non-conference contest at the Wildcat Center.

Johnson & Wales was led by junior Jenna Juron (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists while sophomore Natalie DiCocco (Media, Pa.) added 12 points for the Wildcats.  Senior Ayla Walter (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds in the victory.

Junior Kristen Hoffman (Foxboro, Mass.) paced Framingham State with 15 points and seven rebounds while senior Madeline Park (Blue Hill, Maine) added 13 points and five boards in the setback for the Rams.

Framingham took control of the game early and led 23-13 after a layup by senior Kia Minor (Edgartown, Mass.) with just over nine minutes left in the first half.  Johnson & Wales responded, however and used a 19-7 run to take their first lead of the game on a three pointer by DiCocco to put the Wildcats up 32-30 with 2:20 left in the first stanza.  JWU took the 38-36 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.

Johnson & Wales built on their lead in the second half and held a 48-42 advantage on a layup by Walter with 9:40 left on the clock.  Framingham State then used a 12-2 spurt, capped by a pair of free throws from sophomore Samantha Irvine (Franklin, Mass.) to take the 54-50 lead with just over four minutes remaining.  Once again, JWU responded with a 7-0 run and the Wildcats regained the 57-56 lead on a layup by DiCocco with 1:15 on the clock.  The Wildcats then iced the victory with four free throws in the final minute to secure the 61-56 victory.

With the win Johnson & Wales improves to 6-11 for the year while Framingham State falls to 10-7 on the season.  The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, January 26th when they travel to Mount Ida for a Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest at 1:00 p.m., while the Rams host Worcester State on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. in a MASCAC contest.

Release courtesy of JWU Sports Information.