Fitchburg State Holds Off Women’s Basketball

Fitchburg State Holds Off Women’s Basketball
November 19, 2019

MILTON, Mass. – The Curry College women's basketball team fell at home to the Falcons of Fitchburg State by a score of 59-49 on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, the Falcons move to 1-4 on the year while the Colonels sit at 1-5.

The opening minutes of the match-up saw a defensive struggle, as nearly two minutes ticked off the clock before a layup by Kaitlynn Smith (Hull, Mass.) found its target and opened the scoring at 2-0. Emma Thomson (York, Maine) responded with a three with 6:47 remaining in the frame to give the Falcons a brief 3-2 edge, but a free throw by Gina Coote (Dedham, Mass.) knotted the score shortly later. For nearly the full remainder of the first quarter, neither team held a lead greater than one possession. However, with 15 seconds left one the clock, another triple by Thomson bucked the trend and sent Fitchburg State to the break with a 17-11 advantage.

The Colonels looked to work their way back into the fold as the second quarter got underway, but struggled to find the basket. Over the opening 5:21 of the stanza, the Falcons jumped on a 13-4 run to double up their hosts for the time being at 30-15. Baskets by Ellie Holler (Hingham, Mass.) and Kai. Smith got the Colonels back on the board, but Fitchburg State kept Curry at arm's length and headed to the half with a 37-21 lead and a 30-18 edge in rebounds.

The Falcons continued to extend their edge in boards as play resumed, grabbing seven of the second half's first 11 rebounds. With 5:37 left to play in the third, a layup by Coote brought the deficit back down to 15, before a 9-4 Colonel run brought the teams to the fourth quarter facing a 45-35 score.

Kathryn Dunn (Hanson, Mass.) opened the scoring in the final frame with a bucket to cut their uphill climb to eight points, but a pair of Fitchburg State scores quieted the brief rally. Curry cut the deficit again to 10 after Kristyanna Remillard (Abington, Mass.) converted a pair of free throws to bring the score to 50-40, but the Colonels would not cut the lead back down to 10 until a pair of free throws by Kai. Smith made it 59-49, but those points would stand to be the final ones of the game. After out-rebounding their hosts by a 51-39 margin over the full game, the Falcons secured their first win of the season by a score of 59-49.

In the win, Fitchburg State was led by three players in double-digits in Angelina Marazzi (Manchester, N.H., 18), Mishelle Logie (Attleboro, Mass., 16), and Thomson (11). Marazzi and Thomson topped the team with three assists each, while Catherine Coppinger (Dorchester, Mass.) collected an impressive 19 rebounds. Remillard led the way for the Colonels with 15 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Katie Smith (East Bridgewater, Mass.) turned in team-highs in assists (3) and steals (4).

The Falcons will return to action as they host the WPI Engineers on Thursday, November 21 at 7:00 p.m. The Colonels are off until Saturday, November 23, as they hit the road to face the Vikings of Salem State in a 1:00 p.m. tilt.

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