Framingham State’s O’Connor Scores 1000th Point as Rams Defeat Smith 78-74

By Framingham State athletics

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FRAMINGHAM –  The Framingham State women’s basketball scored 21 4th quarter points to defeat Smith College, who is ranked sixth nationally by D3hoops.com, by a score of 78-74 in a rematch of last season’s NCAA First Round Saturday afternoon.

During the game Framingham State junior Flannery O’Connor became the 14th athlete in program history to score 1,000 points.  

Framingham State is now 6-1.

Smith College suffered its first loss and is now 6-1 also.

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HOW IT HAPPENED:  

• The first quarter saw some back-and-forth play with the lead changing hands a few times. Katherine Haselton hit a trey to break a 17-17 tie with just over a minute to play in the first that sparked the Rams offense to a 20-to-nine run topped off by another Haselton trey midway through the second.  
• The Rams held the lead for the remainder of the first half, but a Katelyn Pickunka layup in the final minute cut the Framingham State lead to six at the half.   
• Smith kept the Rams advantage within reach in the third quarter and made their move in the final minutes of the period. A Katty Haidul layup with 90 seconds left in the third stretched the Rams lead back out to 54-48 before the Pioneers rattled off an 11-3 run capped by an Ally Yamada trey at the buzzer to take their first lead since the opening quarter.  

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• Yamada would drain another from downtown to open the fourth and after trading a few points the Rams made their strike. Haidul drained a jumper on a second chance effort with just over five minutes to play. After misses on the next three possessions O’Connor sunk a layup to tie the game at 71 with just over four minutes to go.  
• After a turnover Gwendolyn Carpenter would hit the backend of two shots from the line to take the lead 72-71. Smith was called for an offensive foul on their next chance and O’Connor cleaned up her own rebound to stretch the Framingham State lead to three points with 94 ticks left.  
• The Rams got a stop on the other end and O’Connor was fouled going to the basket and converted both of her free throws to put the Rams up five with 45 seconds to play.  
• Smith called timeout and advanced the ball; Yamada was fouled shooting a three-pointer and made all three of her foul shots.  
• Framingham called time out with 39 seconds left and advanced the ball to their end. The Rams three point attempt was no good, but Katty Haidul grabbed the offensive rebound. Carpenter was fouled with five seconds to play and hit her two from the line to reach the final margin.  

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INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• O’Connor led all scorers with 26 points adding 15 rebounds shooting 10-for-22 from the floor earning her the double-double. Katherine Haselton put up a career high 21 points adding three rebounds and an assist. 
• Carpenter scored 16 with seven assists going 5-for-8 from the floor while Haidul grabbed another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebound.  
• Smith got 17 points off the bench from Yamada who was 4-of-9 from long range. Morgan Morrison added 13 points with six boards and two assists while Katelyn Pickunka added ten points and eleven rebounds for a double-double of her own.  
• The Rams shooting was the difference maker as the shot 50% from the field and 50% from long range. Smith shot 42% from the field and 33% from downtown.  

UP NEXT: 

The Rams will travel to Babson Park to take on the #17th ranked Babson College on Tuesday evening.

Smith will travel to Williams College for non-league play on Wednesday at 7 p.m.