By Tyler Wahl
Rams Women’s Basketball set a school record for most points scored in a single game in a Monday night win Jan. 24 against Westfield State, 102-55.
The Rams were relatively warmed up for this game, having won their last three games straight in double-digit fashion.
FSU’s dominance throughout this game was foreshadowed when they jumped out to an early 9-0 lead in the first quarter. The Owls were finally able to put points on the board with a pair of free throws, making the score 9-2 with a little over seven minutes remaining.
Junior forward Flannery O’Connor got off to a hot start in the first quarter scoring 13 points and snagging eight rebounds.
Framingham State shot well from the field, finishing on an efficient 50% field goal percentage for the quarter.
Senior guard Krysta Padallero also helped the Rams out by putting up six points of her own
accompanied by three assists and four rebounds as well.
The first quarter finished in FSU’s favor 29-12, and the team looked determined to pile on top of their lead after the break.
The Rams once again outscored the Owls convincingly, finishing ofi the half with a 52-21 lead. In order to break the school record for most points in a game, the team had to translate the same pace from the first half into the second.
O’Connor played a pivotal role in the Rams success once again in the second quarter, scoring eight points and cleaning up the glass with three defensive rebounds.
The Owls finally showed some fight in them after halftime and into the third quarter. They weren’t horribly outscored like the previous two quarters and instead were only outscored by one point total.
However, junior guard Gwendolyn Carpenter slowed down any traction Westfield State gained with her incredible ball movement.
Carpenter finished oQ this quarter with three assists and finished oQ the game with an astounding 11 assists.
The fight the Owls showed in the third quarter did not translate into the fourth as the Rams outscored Westfield 30-15.
Putting up 30 points after three long quarters isn’t easy, but it was necessary to break the school record.
Framingham State had a hot hand in the fourth quarter shooting 61.9% from the field. They also continued to work together as a team with nine assists in the quarter.
The final buzzer sounded and the Rams won the conference battle over Westfield by a total of 47 points.
The 102 points the team scored sets a new record for the organization and pushed FSU’s record to an impressive 12-3.
The confidence gained from this win also led to a win against Worcester State Jan. 26, where they beat the Lancers in an away game 74-57.
O’Connor spoke on the team’s chemistry following the game despite her incredible individual
performance.
“Honestly, it was a huge team effort, so the people I need to credit are my teammates. Gwendolyn Carpenter spent the entire game breaking the press, leaving Katty [Haidul] and I open and they were able to keep feeding us,” said O’Connor.
O’Connor and Carpenter were key pieces in such a dominant win, as the scoring and passing
combination was hard for the Owls to stop.
Carpenter also spoke about the keys to winning throughout this season adding, “I think that this team has found our identity recently and have been playing our style of basketball. We play well together and feed oQ each other’s different playing styles.”
The Rams are now 13-3 on the season and look to continue their winning streak against Bridgewater State Friday night, Jan. 28.