Fitchburg State Tripped by Becker College, 73-69

Falcons have four in double figures in Non-Conference setback

Leicester, Mass. – Fitchburg State University had four players in double-figures but it wasn't enough as the women's basketball team fell on the road to Becker College 73-69 in non-conference action on Monday night.

Freshman Emma Thomson led the Green and Gold with 15 points, while classmate Kyra Rose chipped in 14 point and a team-high seven rebounds. Seniors Shabeli Villa and Melissa Guglielmello each had 10 points in the loss for the Falcons.

Thomson open the contest with three straight from beyond-the-arc to give the Falcons a 9-6 advantage three minutes into the opening quarter. Becker countered with an 8-0 run, however the Falcons answered with baskets by Hannah Keohan and Rose to only be down 17-14 at the end of the frame.

Becker controlled much of the beginning of the second quarter, and posted a ten point lead (34-24) after Cassidy Harrison drained a three pointer with 4:27 on the clock. The Falcons buckled down on defense and outscored the Hawks 14-6 down the stretch to climb back into the contest. Villa contributed 5 points while Rose notched a pair of baskets in the run to cut the deficit to 40-38 at halftime.

Like she did in the first half, Thomson opened the scoring for Fitchburg State in the second half with a 3-point basket, making it a 42-41 contest. The Blue and White countered with layups from Ciara McKissick and a trey from Katey Anderson quickly pushing the lead to 47-41. A layup at the other end by Michaela McTomney and jumper from Thomson once again made it a two-point game (47-45). Becker would close out the half with a 9-3 run to up their lead to 56-50 after three quarters.

Back-to-back three pointers from Gugielmello and freshman guard Allysa Rivera to open the fourth and a layup from Rose once again made it a two-point game (58-60) with 6:42 to play. The Hawks countered with three consecutive 3-pointers to hold a 69-60 advantage with three minutes to play and seal the victory.

For the contest, Fitchburg State shot 28-of-76 (36.8%) overall and (11-for-36) 30.6% from beyond the arc. Becker finished 25-of-60 (41.7%) from the field and (9-for-15) 53.3% from downtown.

Fitchburg State (9-14, 1-9 MASCAC) returns to action on Wednesday as it travels to Salem State University to take on the Vikings at 7:30 p.m. Becker (13-10, 12-4 NECC) will travel to Daniel Webster College on Wednesday for a contest starting at 5:30 p.m.