Turnovers plague MCLA in loss to Fitchburg State

North Adams, MA- The Fitchburg State Falcons used an up tempo offense to push past the MCLA Trailblazers  80-70 in MASCAC women's basketball action.  The Falcons remained perfect in conference play moving to 3-0 (7-5 overall) while the Trailblazers fall to 0-3 in the league (4-10 overall).

Amy Fahey led the Falcons with a game high 22 points and added 9 rebounds.  Rebecca Fluet and Laura Cote each had 16 points, while Britney Payne added 12.

MCLA was paced by Kaitlyn Chenevert's 13 points.  She was joined in double figures by Michaela Siver's 12 and Mariah Brown's 10.

Both teams had trouble holding onto the ball as MCLA committed 34 turnovers, while the Falcons ended the night with 33.

In the opening half, MCLA came out strong breaking through the Falcons pressure en route to an early ten point lead at 16-6.  Michaela Siver had ten points in the run for the Trailblazers.  The visitors came back strong though, using a 23-6 run to grab control, giving them the lead at 29-22.  Fitchburg continued to pressure MCLA and led by as many as 17 points before settling on a 46-31 advantage at halftime.

The closing half saw Fitchburg continue their up tempo game.  MCLA did get within 11 points with 18 minutes to play following an Ashley Clawson triple, however Fitchburg responded with a 13-3 spurt to put the game away.  MCLA would get no closer than the final margin.

Fluet was excellent for Fitchburg adding 6 assists, 5 boards, and 4 steals.  Fahey and Payne were each tough on the glass recording 9 rebounds each.  Megan Wodzinski only had four points, however she did finish with 6 assists.

For MCLA, Brown added 9 caroms to her 10 point effort.  She also finished with 5 steals.  The Trailblazers were hurt by a poor performance from the free throw line making just 13 of 33 attempts.

The Trailblazers will go out of league on Thursday when they travel to Western Connecticut State.