Vikings' Strong Second Half Lifts Them Over Wildcats, 68-53

SALEM, Mass. – After starting the season on the road, Salem State women's basketball welcomed the Wildcats of Johnson and Wales University to Twohig Gymnasium for their home opener. After forty minutes of play the Vikings secured their first win of the season after an all- around team effort carried them to the 68-53 win over the Wildcats.

The Vikings had three players in double figures in Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.), Irianis Delgado (Lynn, Mass.), and Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.) who had 21, 17, and 14, respectively. Zaiter and Delgado also got busy on the boards pulling down 15 and 14 in the win.

For the visitors, Naheema Walker (Staten Island, N.Y.) and Peyton Ryan (Nashua, N.H.) each had 15 points with Walker also adding on eight rebounds and three assists in the loss.

Both teams got off to a slow start as the score halfway through the first quarter was 5 to 4 in favor of the home team. From there, the Vikings got their footing and went on a 4-0 run to add to their lead before a Shania Springer (Bay Shore, N.Y.) three brough the Wildcats within one. With just under three minutes to play, the Wildcats found their first lead of the game after a made three-pointer gave them the 10-8 advantage. Ernidia Goncalves evened the score at 10 with a tough layup but the Wildcats closed out the first with a 4-0 run of their own to bring the score to 14-10 after one.  

The Wildcats held onto their lead throughout the second quarter, leading by as many as nine after Springer scored five unanswered points to bring the score to 27-18, with 2:11 to play in the half. Goncalves was able to find the bottom of the net with under a minute to go, bringing Salem within seven and the score to 29-22 as both teams headed to their respective locker rooms for halftime.

The Vikings wasted no time cutting into the Wildcats lead coming out of the half, opening up with a full court press that allowed them to hinder the Wildcats on offense and score four quick points of their own to cut the lead to 29-26. With just over five minutes to play in the third, the Vikings found their first lead since the 3:31 mark in the first quarter, when Delgado went 1-2 from the charity stripe to give her team the 34-33 tilt. With 1:08 to play in the third, the Vikings saw their biggest lead of the quarter after Teng sunk two free throws to give her team the 5-point lead. Salem State would remain ahead for the rest of the third to head into the final stanza with the 47-43 advantage.

The fourth quarter was all Salem State as they outscored Johnson and Wales 21 to 10 off of 50% shooting from the field and 80% from the free line while causing five Wildcat turnovers to take the exciting 68-53 victory.