Second Half Surge Sends Women’s Basketball Past Salem State, 81-65

SALEM, Mass. – Suffolk women's basketball outscored the Vikings, 53-38, in the second half to take down Salem State, 81-65, Monday night at Twohig Gymnasium.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 81 | Salem State 65
RECORDS: Suffolk (2-1) | Salem State (0-3)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Back-to-back buckets from Emily Welling gave the Rams a four-point gap early on before Gabby Torress heated up from downtown for the Vikings to flip the script for the host, 6-4, at the midway point of the first frame.  

The scored would lock twice and the lead switched three times over the final five minutes of the opening quarter, which saw Salem State ahead, 17-13, as the horn sounded. 

Allie Lopes found her grove from behind-the-arc and sandwich triples around a Vikings hoop in the opening three minutes of the second stanza to even things up at 19-all. After nearly three scoreless minutes the teams traded hoops over the next three capped off by Lopes third trey of the day that put the blue-and-gold ahead, 24-23, with 2:57 to go before half time. 

More see-saw action ensued, and Suffolk clung to an edge, 28-27, as the teams headed to the locker rooms. 

A full-court press paid off for Suffolk out of the break as it went on an 8-2 run to grab its largest advantage of the night to that point, 38-29, 2:40 into the third quarter.  

Salem State stayed with Suffolk and kept the pace at a handful of possessions before Lopes knocked down her fourth and fifth 3-pointers of the evening to extend matters even further, 48-36, at the 4:07 minute mark in the third. The senior's shots from long range were coupled around a jump shot from the Vikings similar to her first set of threes in the first half. 

The Rams maintained that the double figure margin at the end of 30 minutes, 52-41.  

Each side went hoop-for-hoop to get things going in the fourth, which allowed Suffolk to remain ahead, 59-45, with 7:48 to go. 

Nicole Freddo spurred a comeback for the Vikings. Her traditional three-point play ignited a 7-0 stretch that trimmed down distance to seven, 59-52, with 5:50 left on the clock.

A Rams response came in 5-2 stretch fashion capped off by an and-1 by Natalie Fraioli that restored a 10-point lead, 64-54. 

Suffolk hit cruise control the rest of the way to take the victory.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Lopes finished with a game-high 20 points on a 5-for-13 effort from 3-point land. She added four rebounds and one assist. 
• Welling put together a 15-board, 12-point double-double performance. She shot 6-for-8 from the floor and dished out five dimes. 
• Fraioli finished with a double-double as well with 12 points and 11 caroms to go along with two assists and one block. 
• Jenni-Rose DiCecco handed out 10 assists. The floor general chipped in seven points, three rebounds and two steals. 
• Suffolk shot 41.9 percent (31-74) from the floor and 75.0 percent (12-16) from the free throw line. 
• The Rams won the battle on the boards, 56-32. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated Salem State for the first time in program history. 
• The Rams move to 1-2 all-time versus the Vikings. 
• The blue-and-gold met SSU for the third time overall, first since Nov. 19, 2004. 
• The 81 points scored by Suffolk are the most in the all-time series with the Vikings. 
• The Rams held Salem State to its fewest points scored in the all-time series. 
• Welling notched her second straight double-double and fourth of her collegiate career. 
• Fraioli tallied her first collegiate double-double.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

COMING UP
Suffolk returns to the friendly confines of Smith Court Wednesday, Nov. 17 when it hosts Colby Sawyer at 7 p.m.