Framingham St. Rallies Past Blue Basketball To Open Clark Holiday Classic, 65-53

WORCESTER, Mass. -- Framingham State junior Mary Kate O'Day (Berlin, Mass.) scored a game-high 24 points as the Rams rallied from an eight-point second-half deficit to earn a 65-53 victory over Wellesley College basketball on Saturday evening at the Clark Holiday Classic at the Kneller Athletic Center. 

The Rams improve to 7-4 overall with the non-conference victory. Wellesley is now 5-4 on the season. 

O'Day added six rebounds and four assists in 38 minutes of action for Framingham State. Classmate Emily Velozo (Tewksbury, Mass.) dropped in 18 points, while first year Liana Cunningham (Quincy, Mass.) dished out a game-high nine of Framingham State's 17 assists in the contest. Junior Julia Sanborn (Dracut, Mass.) added eight points and seven boards in the win. 

Sophomore Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif.) scored a team-high 14 points for the Blue, finishing in double-figures for the fifth time in her last six games. Cho also finished with a team-best eight rebounds and three assists. Junior Caitilin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) chipped in with nine points and three assists. Classmate Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) finished with five points, seven boards, four assists and two steals.

The Blue opened the game on a 10-1 run, as Cho scored six of her team-high 14 in the opening quarter to help the Blue take an 18-8 lead after the first ten minutes of play. The Rams chipped away at the deficit in the second, limiting the Blue to just seven points while scoring 11 to trim the deficit to six, 25-19, at the break. 

Cho dropped in a layup on Wellesley's first possession of the second half to make the Blue advantage 27-19, but Framingham State went on to erase the deficit when O'Day dropped in a layup at 2:14 to give the Rams a 36-35 lead. O'Day scored 12 points in the quarter to send the Rams into the fourth with a 40-38 lead.

Framingham State would go on to lead by as many as 14 points in the fourth, outscoring the Blue 25-15 in the final stanza to pull away for the win. Velozo added seven points in the frame while O'Day and Sanborn each added six to seal the 65-53 victory. 

Wellesley finished the game shooting 51.2% (22-for-43) from the field, while Framingham State shot 42.3% (22-for-52). However, Framingham State was 8-for-20 (40%) from three and Wellesley was 3-for-10 (30%). Wellesley topped the Rams on the boards, 33-28.

Both teams are back in action tomorrow. Wellesley will play Regis at 2:00 PM, while Framingham State takes on tournament host Clark at 12:00 PM.