Women’s Basketball Takes Down Fitchburg State, 69-61

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Georgia Bourikas knocked down 30 points to lead Suffolk women's basketball team charge out of the locker room and surged in the second half to secure a 69-61 victory over non-conference foe Fitchburg State at Parkinson Gymnasium Thursday night. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 69, Fitchburg State 61
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-2) | Fitchburg State (3-6)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk jumped out to an early 11-4 margin on a pair of buckets from sophomore guard Alexis Hackett and a trey by senior Alexandra Nagri. Fitchburg State answered back, going on a 9-2 stretch as sophomore Angelina Marazzi connected on a pair of jumpers, while newcomer Close Roberts knocked down a three-pointer to give the Falcons a 15-13 edge. The Rams climbed back, however, outscoring the hosts 4-2 to end the frame and level the playing field at 17-all after the first 10 minutes. 

In the second quarter, the Rams regained the lead 20-17 as freshman Jenni-Rose DiCecco knocked down a triple before the Falcons closed out the half with a 7-2 run thanks to baskets by Marazzi, senior Michaela McTomney and junior Mikala Malboeuf to make the score 33-28 in Fitchburg's favor going into the break. 

Following the intermission, Suffolk battled back to take a 33-31 advantage on back-to-back three's by senior Bourikas and Nagri to start the quarter. With the score 50-41, FSU cut the deficit to 50-44 as Malboeuf scored six straight points to end the third. 

In the fourth, the green-and-gold responded yet again as Malboeuf hit a pair of layups and a three-pointer to give the Falcons a 51-50 edge. The Rams turned the tide in their favor as Bourikas struck once again from downtown giving the blue-and-gold a 53-51 advantage that turned into a 69-61 victory. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Bourikas finished the evening with 30 points on an 11-for-18 effort from the floor. The senior co-captain shot 50 percent (5-10) from beyond-the-arc and 100 percent (3-3) at the line. Defensively she pulled down 11 boards. 
• DiCecco racked up 14 points to go along with 10 rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. 
• Hackett's stat line was a reverse of DiCecco's with the sophomore pouring in 10 points and 14 caroms. She added six assists, three steals and two blocks. 
• Suffolk shot 36.6 percent (26-71) from the field and  just 25.0 percent (9-36) from behind the arc. The Rams also struggled at the line, connecting on just eight of its 21 toys (38.1 percent). 
• The Falcons out rebounded the Rams, 50-46. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk is off to its best start through eight games at 6-2 since matching that ledger to lift the lid on the 2012-13 slate.  
• The Rams and Falcons met for the 12th time since 1979 and first time since 2015. With the win, Suffolk trimmed FSU's all-time series lead to 7-5. 
• Suffolk defeated the Falcons for the second straight meeting marking just the second time in the all-time series the Rams took down Fitchburg in two consecutive contests with the last time happening in Nov. 18, 1995 (76-50) and Dec. 7, 2013 (83-67). 
• The win moves the Rams win streak to four straight. The season-best winning stretch is the longest for Suffolk since the blue-and-gold combined eight triumphs together to open 2017 last year. 
• Bourikas is the first Ram to score 30 points in a contest since Alessandra Quadri did so in a 74-71 setback to Springfield December 14, 2015. 
• The three Rams who produced double-double efforts - Bourikas, DiCecco and Hackett - are the first blue-and-gold trio to notch double-doubles in the same game in Suffolk's game-by-game record books, which dates through the 2008-09 season. 
• DiCecco's double-double was the second of her collegiate career. 
• Hackett, who has been a consistent contributor on the glass, registered her fifth double-double of the season. 
• Bourikas' double-double was the first of the season and just the second in the senior's collegiate campaign. 
• Ed Leyden used the starting line-up of DiCecco, Nagri, Bourikas, Hackett and Hipwell for the seventh straight game. That starting five is 6-1 this season. 

POST-GAME PIC

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk takes its talents to Framingham State Saturday, Dec. 9 for a 1 p.m. non-conference battle.