Women’s Basketball Slips by Salem State, 63-58

SALEM, Mass. – Despite a slow start, Suffolk women's basketball came back to prevail over Salem State, 63-58, in a game that featured seven ties and five lead changes, Tuesday night at Twohig Gymnasium.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 63 | Salem State 58
RECORDS: Suffolk (4-0) | Salem State (2-1) 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Salem State jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first five minutes. The Rams picked up the pace in the second half of the opening quarter to trim the gap to three, 12-9. Allison Bono drove the blue-and-gold's offense in the opening frame as the junior was responsible for seven of the visitor's nine points. 
• A case of déjà vu occurred to get the second stanza underway as SSU outscored Suffolk, 8-3, to put the extend the distance to 20-12, which forced Ed Leyden to take a timeout. The Rams began to rally out of the huddle and made it a two-possession, 27-21, game with 2:09 to go before halftime. 
• It was all Suffolk in the last two minutes as Ariana Ingram and Olivia Verdile coupled back-to-back half-ending buckets together. One hoop came inside-the-arc, and the next followed behind-the-arc, to chip the margin to two, 28-26, as the teams headed into halftime 
• Once again it was Salem State that poured in the first points out of the locker rooms and Suffolk faced a multi-possession distance, 32-26. A Tatiana Tune freebie sparked six unanswered Rams points that leveled the playing field at 32-all with four minutes removed from the third quarter. 
• See-saw action ensued as the score tied once before Ingram's longball pushed the blue-and-gold in front for the first time, 38-36, at the 4:39 mark of the third. 
• Salem used a timeout of its own in the hopes of shutting Suffolk down. It did not work as the rams did not let go of the lead and went into the fourth ahead, 46-44.
• The back-and-forth affair continued into the beginning of the fourth and Suffolk held onto a slim 52-48 edge with 7:38 on the clock. 
• Suffolk went scoreless for over five minutes, which allowed the Vikings to regain the advantage, 56-52.
• Verdile knocked a hoop down from 3-point range and Jordan Moreau followed with a productive 2-point trip to the charity strip to send Suffolk back in front, 57-56, with just over one minute left in regulation.
• The lead flip-flopped with Ingram's fineness from behind-the-arc coming up clutch once again as the freshman swished a triple to give the Rams the go-ahead 60-58 with 36.7 on the clock. 
• Suffolk went on to win the game at the line as Moreau went 3-for-4 down the stretch for the 63-58 final.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Ingram finished with 12 points with both of her buckets from behind-the-arc coming in crucial moments of the contest. The freshman shot 5-for-11 from the field and added seven boards, two steals and one helper. 
• Bono finished with 12 points as well on a 5-for-8 performance from the floor to go along with six caroms, three takeaways, three assists and one block. 
• Moreau rounded out the Rams in double figures with 10 points thanks to a 6-for-7 showing from the free throw line. The junior guard chipped in eight rebounds, one steal and one block as well. 
• Verdile had an all-around effort of nine points, five boards, four handouts, one block and one steal. 
• Suffolk won the rebound battle, 47-30, and scored 12 points on second chances. 
• Both teams poured in 20 points in the paint. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk is undefeated through the first four games of the season for the first time since 2023-24. 
• The Rams have won five games in a row versus Salem State to move to 5-2 all-time in the series. 
• Suffolk is now 4-1 on the road against SSU. 
• Ingram produced a personal-best in points (12) and rebounds (7) and tied a career-high two steals. 
• Khaya Skene, who shot 2-for-3 from the field, matched a career-high in points (5) and boards (3). 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is back in Boston Thursday, Nov. 20 for a tangle with Coast Guard at 5:00 p.m.