PAXTON, Mass. – The Framingham State College women’s basketball team built a 13-point lead by halftime and staved off a late charge by the AMACTS to hold on for a 66-61 victory at The Fuller Activities Center on Tuesday night. Junior Tory Chester (Leominster, Mass.) led the charge for the Rams scoring 19 points while grabbing a team-high nine rebounds and three steals.

 

The AMCATS came out strong and took a 15-11 lead with under seven minutes to go in the first half. Chester helped rally the Rams back, scoring 10 points in the final five and half minutes as FSC ended the half on a 15-4 run to go into the locker room with a 33-20 lead.

 

Anna Maria slowly chipped away at the Ram lead as freshman Samantha Ashton (Worcester, Mass.) found her groove. Ashton scored 15 second-half points as the AMCATS fought back to make it a five-point game with just 1:46 left on the clock. Anna Maria would get as close as four points with just 24 seconds remaining, but Robyn Berthiaume (Lunenburg, Mass.) grabbed a key offensive rebound and put it back with just 16 ticks left on the clock to help the Rams hold on for a 66-61 win.

 

Senior Allie Hart (Somerset, Mass.) collected game-high 21 points and four steals for the Rams while senior Kate Simonelli (Pittsfield, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points, four boards, and two blocks.

 

Ashton led the AMCATS with 19 points and eight rebounds, shooting 2-3 from behind the arc. Sophomore guard Emily Nugent (Worcester, Mass.) also finished in double figures with 13 points while freshman Mary Moroski (Worcester, Mass.) ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with eight points in the loss.

 

The Rams even their record at 5-5 and will host Mt. Ida on Thursday. The loss drops the AMCATS to 3-8 on the year. Anna Maria will return to the court on Saturday when they host Salve Regina at The Fuller Activities Center.