Fourth Quarter Surge Pushes Salem State Past Framingham State

Framingham, Mass.— Trailing by five after three quarters, Salem State outscored Framingham State 22-11 in the final frame to earn a 53-47 victory over the Rams in MASCAC action on Saturday afternoon. The Vikings, who won for the third time in four games, go to 5-16 on the year and 3-6 in conference. Framingham State slips to 14-7 and 6-3 in the league.

Behind 6-2 in the opening minutes of the first quarter the Vikings scored twelve unanswered points to end the quarter leading 14-6 capped by a Tyra Scott (Methuen, Mass.) basket.  

After Salem scored the opening bucket of the second quarter FSU's Emily Velozo (Tewksbury, Mass.) hit a trey to break a nearly eight minute scoreless spell for the Rams as the hosts outscored the Vikings 15-8 the remainder of the quarter to head to the locker room trailing 24-21.

The Rams came out of the locker room with a 10-0 run capped by a Julia Sanborn (Dracut, Mass.) jumper with just over four minutes to play in the quarter to lead 32-24.

Courtney Paschal (Waltham, Mass.) cut the Vikings deficit to three late in the third but Velozo sunk two from the charity stripe to head to the fourth quarter with the Rams up five.

The Vikings slowly cut into the Rams advantage in the fourth then Natalie Mellinger (Beverly, Mass.) sunk a three with just over three minutes to tie the game at 42.

After the Rams missed a jumper on their end Paschal hit a trey with 2:13 to play to take a three-point lead. After Framingham was called for a technical foul, Salem made two free throws and Scott converted her and-one the Vikings led 50-42 with 1:38 to play.

Abby Battaini (Haverhill, Mass.) nailed a trey with 41 seconds remaining to make it a five-point game but Salem converted free throws on their end and the Rams couldn't sink the basket on the other end. 

Salem State was paced by Scott who had 18 points on 7-of-18 from the floor. Paschal and Kia Fernandes (Wareham, Mass.) both chipped in 10 points a piece.

The Rams were led by Velozo who scored 16 points with nine boards. Tiphani Harris (Revere, Mass.) registered a double-double with 10 points and 15 rebounds while Mary Kate O'Day (Berlin, Mass.) scored eight points with 14 boards.

The Rams struggled from the floor shooting 20.7% and only 11.5% from long range. Salem was 35.7% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc.