Women’s Basketball Suffers First Lost of the Season to Roger Williams
Springfield, Mass. - Senior forward Bridget Quilty (Duxbury, Mass.) recorded 22 points and 15 rebounds to help lift the Roger Williams women's basketball team past Framingham State, 71-58, in the first day of the Hampton Inn West Springfield/Naismith Classic on Friday evening in Blake Arena.
With the win, Roger Williams handed the Rams its first loss of the season, as the Hawks improve to 5-3 on the year while Framingham State falls to 9-1 overall. Roger Williams shot 25-of-63 (39.7%) from the field in the win, while the Rams were just 21-of-71 (29.6%) over 40 minutes of play.
The Hawks jumped out to an early 8-2 advantage following a lay-up from Mariah Nicholas (Acushnet, Mass.) just 3:49 into the contest, before Monta Connolly (Lynn, Mass.) evened the score at 10 apiece with a basket of her own with 3:38 to play in the quarter. From there, Roger Williams regained a six-point lead, benefitting from a pair of free throws by Stephanie Bramante (Stoneham, Mass.) to make it 18-12 with 1:43 left in the stanza. Roger Williams' Anna Walther converted a lay-up with three seconds left in the frame to make it 22-17, Hawks, at the end of one.
The Hawks would push its lead to 10 midway through the second quarter on a lay-up from Bridget Quilty (Duxbury, Mass.) to make it 27-17, but Framingham State would pull back to within seven on a triple from Quinn O'Connell (Sterling, Mass.) with 5:10 to play in the half. Trailing by 10 points, Tiphani Harris (Revere, Mass.) would score back-to-back baskets before a three-pointer from O'Connell brought the Rams to within three, forcing a Roger Williams' timeout still up 30-27 with 2:30 left in the second quarter. From there, the Hawks closed out the half on a 7-0 run to hold a 37-27 lead at the break.
The Rams would cut their deficit to five in the opening stages of the second half, but the Hawks would quickly regain a nine-point lead on a pair of back-door lay-ins from Walthers to take a 43-34 lead just 2:48 into the period. Connolly would make it a 49-42 with a lay-up before Mary Kate O'Day (Berlin, Mass.) knocked down a triple to end the frame, making it 49-45, Roger Williams.
With 7:26 left in the game, a corner three from Walthers helped the Hawks regain a 10-point lead, before the junior drilled another to push Roger Williams' lead to 13 with 6:00 to play. The blue and yellow would hold on to its 13-point lead before sealing the victory.
The Rams will play host Springfield College at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, December 31st.
*Release courtesy of Springfield sports information