Fitchburg State Falls to Visiting Salem State, 61-30

FITCHBURG, Mass. - Fitchburg State suffered a conference setback in its final home game of the season, dropping a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) bout with Salem State, 61-30, on Wednesday evening on Senior Night at the Parkinson Gymnasium.

Salem State had three players in double-digits as Kia Fernandes's game-high 17 points and five blocks were complemented by Tahira Peralta's 13 points and Kaitlyn Bryan's 11 points and nine rebounds.

For Fitchburg State, senior guard Tori Cyrus had a team-high eight points, nailing 2-of-8 from beyond the arc. Senior forwards Stephanie Leveillee and Erika Schneider were active in the paint all-night pulling down 12 and 10 rebounds respectively to lead the contest.

Action began as Salem State controlled the opening tip-off, missing their first shot attempt before Byran corralled the offensive board and finished the possession with the first points of the game.

Moments later sophomore guard Kate Lipka extended the visitors lead, hitting an uncontested triple (5-0).

With 5:42 left in the first quarter, the Green and Gold picked up their first points when senior guard Tori Cyrus hit from beyond the arc with a hand in her face and then on the next possession would go on to nail her second-straight from deep (7-6).

Salem State then scored six unanswered points before junior guard Melissa Guglielmello halted the run hitting an elbow jumper as the hosts closed out the quarter trailing by five points (13-8).

In the second quarter, the Vikings came on strong with a 15-2 scoring run that lasted the entire quarter. Fernandes dropped a team-high seven points during the drive to push the visitors lead to 18 points going into the half (28-10).

Following the intermission, Salem State continued the momentum gathered from the previous quarter, opening the third with a 10-1 scoring run. Four players contributed, including four points coming from Lipka during the run.

At the 5:35 mark the Falcons began to match baskets with the Vikings, out-scoring the visitors to end the third with an 11-10 advantage. Junior Shabeli Villa picked up four for Fitchburg State, who closed out the third trailing by 16 points.

In the fourth, the Vikings cinched the game with a 13-8 drive lasting the final 10 minutes of the contest as Peralta was able to pick up five for Salem State in the final quarter, with the visitors picking up the victory by the final score of 61-30.

Throughout the contest Fitchburg State shot 12-of-68 from the field while knocking down 3-of-20 from beyond the arc. Salem State finished 26-of-68 from shots from the floor and hit 3-of-17 from triple.

Salem State won the battle of the glass, posting a 53-50 edge with a game-high 37 rebounds on the defensive end. Fitchburg State edged the visitors on the offensive side, 22-16.

The Vikings converted 26 points from turnovers in the victory and 14 points off of second chance opportunities, while controlling the lead from tip-off to the final buzzer.

Fitchburg State (0-24, 0-11 MASCAC) hits the road for its final game of the season, a conference battle at Framingham State on February 20^th with tip-off at 3 p.m.

Release courtesy of Fitchburg State student journalist Kyle Prudhomme​