Women’s Basketball Runs Past Anna Maria, 86-56

PAXTON, Mass. – Gabriella DeComo and Jenni-Rose DiCecco had identical 21-point performances to power Suffolk women's basketball to an 86-56 triumph over Anna Maria Tuesday night at Fuller Gym.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 86 | Anna Maria 56
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-5, 3-1 GNAC) | Anna Maria (5-12, 1-2 GNAC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Basket-for-basket action consumed the first half of the opening quarter with the AMCATs ahead 12-11. Allie Lopes buried a bucket from behind-the-arc that sparked a quarter-ending 11-0 Rams' run that put Suffolk ahead by double digits, 22-12.  

DiCecco knocked down a pair of triples to being the second stanza and push Suffolk's advantage to 16, 28-12. Anna Maria ended its 6:36 scoring draught that spanned two quarters with a set of freebies that spark six straight points for the hosts to trim the gap back to 10, 28-18, with 5:53 left before half time.  

Out of a Suffolk timeout, Lopes once again ignited a scoring stretch for the visitors. This time the sophomore banked in a layup to jump start an 11-3 Rams' rally that gave the blue-and-gold a 17-point cushion. The AMCATs beat the buzzer with a trey to cut the distance down to 14 at the half, 41-27.  

Similar to the beginning of the outing, the teams traded hoops out of the locker room. The Rams edge played in their favor though and back-to-back hoops from downtown, one from DeComo andAlexis Hackett's second of the night, extended Suffolk's lead to 22 at the midway point of the third quarter.  

That cushion blossomed to as many as 23 twice in the third frame with the second coming when DeComo matched her personal-best in points, with her 18th and 19th of the night, as the game headed to the fourth.  

Suffolk maintained the margin for the majority of the final quarter. Lopes looped together consecutive hoops for the second time on the day to put the Rams ahead by 25, 77-52. Amber Wilson answered with a jumper for the AMCATs at the 5:16 minute mark.  

It was all blue-and-gold from there though as Suffolk scored seven straight points and held Anna Maria without a field goal the rest of the way for the 86-56 final. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• DiCecco's 21 points came off an 8-for-13 showing from the floor, which including a 4-for-7 effort from three-point land. The floor general was the verge of a double-double effort behind nine dimes to go along with three boards and three takeaways. 
• DeComo registered 21 points on a 10-for-17 performance from the field. The junior tallied four rebounds, two steals and one block. 
• Hipwell notched an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double with two helpers. 
• Lopes contributed 14 points and two caroms. 
• Hackett chipped in seven points, seven rebounds, two assists and one block. 
• The Rams shot 54.2 percent (32-59) from the floor, 43.5 percent (10-23) from beyond-the-arc and 75.0 percent (12-16) at the charity stripe. 
• Suffolk outrebounded Anna Maria, 43-21.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk remains undefeated all-time against Anna Maria, 9-0. 
• The 30-point victory is the fifth time Suffolk defeated the AMCATs by 30-plus points in the all-time series. 
• over the AMCATs is the second largest margin of victory in the all-time series since behind a 92-57 win against Anna Maria Feb. 1, 2018. 
• DiCecco matched a personal-best nine handouts. 
• DeComo registered a new career-high in points (21) and field goals made (10). 
• Hipwell had her first double-double of the season, seventh of her career and first since Feb. 19, 2019 versus Anna Maria.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk closes its non-conference scheduled Saturday, Jan. 25 when it hosts Wesleyan at Emerson's Bobbi Brown & Steven Plofker Gym at 4:30 p.m.