Cold Shooting dooms MCLA women as they fall to Framingham 53-40

Framingham, MA- The Framingham State women's basketball team held visiting MCLA to just 21% shooting as they handed the Trailblazers a 53-40 setback in MASCAC action this afternoon.  With the win, the Rams improve to 10-5 overall and are 3-1 in the conference.  MCLA drops to 9-6 overall and is 1-3 in the league.

Monta Connolly paced the Rams with a game best 14 points and pulled down 10 rebounds.  Alycia Rackliffe added 13 points, 12 rebounds, and 7 blocks in the win.  Quinn O'Connell came off the bench to score 10 points.

Early on with the score tied at 6-6, the Rams clamped down on defense and that spurred on a 10-0 run to take a 16-6 lead in the first quarter.  A Kayla Hotaling jumper would snap the run, but the Rams would own a 16-8 edge after a quarter of play.  MCLA shot just 3-22 (14%) from the floor in the opening period. 

The Rams extended the lead for the majority of the second quarter as they used a 9-0 run to take a 32-11 lead on MCLA before the Trailblazers sliced into the lead.  Freshman Karina Mattera sparked the Trailblazers with a pair of triples and the visitors would eventually cut the deficit to 13 at the half.  MCLA did shoot just 7-41 (17%) in the opening half.  Both teams were sloppy with the ball in the first half as the Rams committed 13 turnovers while MCLA added 12 of their own.

The Trailblazers held their own in the third quarter slicing the lead to nine points on late in the period.  They would head to the fourth down 45-34.  Any thoughts of an MCLA comeback would go quietly as the Trailblazers could not score over the first eight minutes of the final quarter of play as Framingham built a comfortable lead and cruise home from there.

Karina Mattera led the way with 12 points off the bench for MCLA.  Courtney McLaughlin added 10 points and 5 rebounds.  Kayla Hotaling, the team's leading scorer, was held to just 6 points, but the junior did snag a game best 15 rebounds.

MCLA was just 15-72 (21%) from the floor and was forced into 24 turnovers.  The 40 points marks a season low for the Trailblazers.

The Rams didn't exactly shoot the lights out coming in at just a 31% clip.  They also struggled to hold onto the ball committing 21 turnovers.

The Trailblazers will return home on Wednesday night when they host Fitchburg State at 5:30pm in the Amsler Campus Center.