Career- Highs from Gates and Teng Lead Vikings Past Falcons

SALEM, Mass. --- Salem State women's basketball poured in 84 points on the afternoon to defeat Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) opponent, Fitchburg State University, by a score of 84-66. The 18-point victory lifts the Vikings to 7-10 overall and 2-2 in MASCAC action.

Kylie Gates (Pembroke, Mass.) had a near triple- double as she poured in a career-high 23 points to go along with seven helpers and nine rebounds. Teammate, Abuk Teng (Manchester, N.H.) also had a career- high in points, with 24, to go with 10 boards to give her a double-double in this afternoon's victory. Lastly, Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.) and Alyssa Genness (Belgrade, Maine) rounded off the scoring for the Vikings with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

For the visitors, Juliana Davis (Templeton, Mass.) led the Falcons with a double- double as she recorded 17 points and 11 rebounds while teammates Rylie Harlow (Hanson, Mass.) and Stephanie Hart (Shirley, Mass.) added 14 apiece with Hart securing 10 rebounds for a double-double of her own in the loss.

How it Happened:

• Both teams traded baskets for a majority of the opening stanza before the Vikings closed out the final two minutes on an 8-2 run to go into the second quarter with an eight-point tilt (18-10).
• Less than 30 seconds into the second quarter, Gates found Jaylen Nieves (Chicopee, Mass.) for a jumper, which would give Salem their first double-digit lead of the game (20-10). A few minutes later, the Falcons were able to find themselves back within striking distance after a S. Hart putback brought her team  within one (25-24). Then, with 2:55 to play, a Falcon three-pointer would tie the game at 31- all before the Vikings closed out the half on an 8-3 run to head into the break with the slight 39-34 edge.
• Coming out of the half Salem found themselves up by ten points after a 6-0 run brought the game to 44-34 with eight minutes to go in the third quarter. From there, the home team began to distance themselves around the halfway mark when a perfect trip to the charity stripe for Teng kickstarted her squad to a 14-0 run to put the Vikings up by 22 points (62-40). A last second jump shot by Davis brought the Falcons back within 20 points and brought the game to 64-44 entering the final 10 minutes of action.
• Despite being outscored by a tally of 22-20 in the final quarter, Salem State was still able to take the commanding 84-66 victory over the  Falcons.