PAXTON, MA- Although Amber Wilson (New York, NY) dropped 25 points, it was not enough as the Anna Maria College women's basketball team (5-12, 1-2 GNAC) lost to the Suffolk University Rams (11-5, 3-1 GNAC) in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play Tuesday evening at the Fuller Center. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• In the opening minutes of the first, Anna Maria raced out to a quick 6-2 lead after Sierra Johnson (Brockton, MA) knocked down two jumpers and Ashley Rufo (Pittsfield, MA) converted a layup. However, Suffolk answered back quickly with a 7-3 run to grab their first lead (9-8). Gabriella DeComo (Portsmouth, RI) made a cutting layup and Jenni-Rose Dicecco (Falmouth, MA) hit a jumper and the go-ahead three at 6:01. 
• After both colleges traded baskets, the AMCATS took the lead back (10-9) when Sierra Johnson hit a tough layup. Dicecco gave the Rams the lead again after she converted a layup (11-10) but the 'CATS forced a Suffolk turnover and Sierra Johnson capitalized and hit another jumper for the 12-11 advantage.
• Suffolk closed the quarter on an 11-0 run spearheaded by Decomo's four points along with contributions from three other Rams student-athletes (Dicecco, Allie Lopes (Scituate, MA), and Natalie Fraioli (Sutton, MA)).
• The squad's defense made scoring challenging for the Rams as they forced seven turnovers and scored four points off them. Despite the turnovers, the Rams still were able to score as DiCecco put up eight points that included two made threes. However, before the half ended Wilson converted a buzzer-beater three off the backboard to highlight the quarter for Anna Maria.
• Suffolk's strong shooting continued in the third as they generated a 13-4 run at 6:29 to increase their lead to 27 (64-37) behind DeComo's seven points and two made three's from Alexis Hackett (Charlton, MA). For the AMCATS, Sienna Johnson (Brockton, MA) did her best to keep the squad in it when she contributed eight of Anna Maria's 16 third-quarter points. Other AMCATS student-athletes that scored were Wilson and Sierra Johnson who each had four points. 
• Wilson scored majority of the AMCATS points in the final frame as she had nine of their 13 points and did most of her damage from the line (4-4). Sierra Johnson provided the rest of the scoring with four points. 
• For Suffolk, the fourth-quarter saw eight Suffolk student-athletes score as they held a 20-13 advantage in the quarter. Lopes paced the Rams with five points along with a made three-pointer. Jordan Hipwell (Balton Spa, NY) chipped in four points and five other Rams had two points to secure the 86-56 victory. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Wilson led the squad with 25 points and brought down seven rebounds. Tonight is Wilson's ninth game when she scored 20 or more points. 
• The other double-digit scorer for the AMCATS was Sierra Johnson as she totaled 19 points on the evening. 
• Rufo dished out a team-leading and season/career-high five assists for Anna Maria. 
• Suffolk had two 21 point scorers (DeComo and DiCecco).
• Hipwell had a double-double for the visitors (11 points/10 rebounds). 
• Suffolk hit 54.2 percent of their shots from the field and 43.5 percent from three compared to Anna Maria's shooting splits of 40.4/16.7 percent. 

WHAT'S NEXT

 Anna Maria continues their homestand when they host GNAC member, Lasell University on Saturday, January 25 at 1 PM. Suffolk takes on Wesleyan (CT) on Saturday, January 25 at 4:30 PM.

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