Wesleyan Hands Women’s Basketball First Loss of Season in OT, 59-54

BOSTON – Trailing by 20 at the half, the Suffolk women's basketball team outscored Wesleyan, 33-13, over the second 20 minutes to force overtime. The Cardinal held the upper hand in the  extra session to defeat the Rams, 59-54, in the opening round of Emerson's Tip-Off Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Lions' Plokfer-Brown Gymnasium. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 54, Wesleyan 59
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1) | Wesleyan (1-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was all Wesleyan over the first 20 minutes as they limited Suffolk to just 14 points, six in the first quarter and eight in the second stanza, respectively. 

Roles reversed in the second half as the Rams powered past the Cardinal, 33-13, bolstered by Georgia Bourikas' 14 second half points. The teams traded hoops to open the third quarter and it was all Suffolk from there. The blue and gold rattled off 13 unanswered points, including seven from Bourikas to pull within 10, 39-29, at the 3:10 minute mark. 

A pair of Cardinal freebies broke up the run, but Bourikas netted a triple, her second of the day and of the quarter, before Caitlyn Caramello put away a layup to end the quarter and make it a 41-37 game. 

The Cardinal scored the first two hoops of the fourth frame and Ed Leyden called a timeout to talk things over. The game went scoreless over the next 3:28 before Caramello started things up again with a layup. Wesleyan answered the hoop with a set from the line, but the Rams retaliated. Bourikas put a pair of her own away to spark an 8-0 stretch to end regulation and force overtime. 

Suffolk went ahead on two good free throws by Caramello to open the extra frame and Bourikas made it a four-point Rams lead with a good lay-up with 3:23 to play. The Cardinal responded with a lay-up of its own and a good trey to take a one-point edge it would not relinquish down the stretch to hold on for the 59-54 victory.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Bourikas had a day for the Rams, pouring in a career-high 26 points, 19 of which came in the second half, shooting 50 percent (10-20) from the field. The senior contributed on all ends of the hardwood, contributing eight rebounds, four assists and one takeaway. 
• Caramello put together a double-double effort off the bench with 10 points on a 50 percent (4-8) connection rate and a game-leading 10 boards. The junior forwarded added two assists and two steals to her stat line. 
• Kelsey Schiebel, who pitched  in nine points, dished out a game-high eight assists. 
• After going 6-for-29 from the field in the first half, the Rams finished 14 of their 33 attempts to finish the game with a 31.0 percentage shooting percentage (22-71) for the day. 
• Wesleyan held the advantage on the glass, outrebounding Suffolk, 47-42. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk played its first overtime game since Nov. 19, 2014, a 73-70 loss to Regis.
• Caramello's first double-double of the season marks the third of her career.  

POST-GAME

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk returns to the hardwood tomorrow for Day 2 of the tournament against fellow GNAC member Simmons. The non-conference consolation contest is set for a 1 p.m. tip