Salem Upends Framingham St., 83-80, In MASCAC Battle

FRAMINGHAM, Mass.— After 40 minutes of action, Salem State women's basketball extended their win streak to three as they defeated Framingham State, 83-80, to improve to 4-2 in conference play and 9-10 overall. This afternoon's victory marks the Vikings first win over the Rams since 2019.

Abuk Teng (Manchester, N.H.) had a career-high 28 points, to go along with five boards to lead the Vikings on the afternoon. Kylie Gates (Pembroke, Mass.) had another all- around game with 20 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, while Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.) netted 16 points and secured 15 rebounds to notch a double-double in the victory.

For the Rams, Flannery O'Connor (Amesbury, Mass.) recorded a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Katherine Haselton (Greenfield, Mass.) and Katty Haidul (Gilford, N.H.) each chipped in 21 and 18 points, respectively, in the effort.

How it Happened:

• Despite finding the bottom of the basket first, the Vikings found themselves down by a tally of seven after the Rams scored nine unanswered points to take the early 9-2 lead. Goncalves brought her team back within striking distance after back-to-back layups brought the Vikings within three points of the home team.
• With under three minutes to play in the opening stanza, O'Connor went a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe to give the Rams their first double-digit lead (19-8) on the afternoon. Goncalves was able to use the final seconds of the first quarter to notch her sixth point of the game and bring her team back within single digits (22-13) before the buzzer sounded.
• The Vikings wasted no time chipping away to start the second quarter of player after Gates nailed a three to bring the game to a two-possession game (22-16). Four minutes later, the Rams found themselves back on top by 10 before back-to-back Teng jumpers and a Goncalves layup brought the Vikings within striking distance (29-25) of Framingham. The remaining five minutes of the half was low scoring, with the Rams outscoring the Vikings by four to take the 41-33 tilt heading into the break.
• Just two minutes into the third quarter, Framingham found themselves back on top by double-digits after a 7-0 run gave them the 13-point cushion (48-35). Shorty after, Salem needed a timeout to regroup which proved to work to their advantage as Goncalves came out to score an easy two before back-to-back Ram turnovers led to four points for the Vikings to bring them within eight (51-43).
• Just under the halfway mark of the third, Teng and Goncalves went on 10-0 for the Vikings, to bring the game to 53 all with 2:11 to play in the quarter. The Rams would score two unanswered buckets to take the five-point edge before a Gates' jumper made it a three-point game (58-55) in favor of the Rams to start the final ten minutes of play.
• Gates opened the final stanza with a three-pointer to bring the game to 58 apiece. The, with 7:55 to play, the home team found themselves up by five points before Teng scored five points of her own to bring the game back to a stalemate (65-65).
• The stalemate would hold for two minutes before the Rams reclaimed the lead after securing an offensive board that led to an easy putback with 4:37 remaining. Gates once again kept her team in it, as her jumper sailed through the net to send the game to its fourth tie of the second half with just over three minutes to play in the game.
• With 1:03 to play in the game, the Vikings found their first lead since the opening play of the game after a Teng jumper and Gates  layup put their squad ahead by one (76-75). From there, the lead would be exchanged twice before the Vikings went 4-6 from the free throw line to ice the game and secure the 83-80 victory over Framingham State.