Women's Basketball Upended By Leopards In 2023 Season Opener

Harlow paces Green and Gold with 14 points

Fitchburg, Mass. – The Fitchburg State University Women's Basketball team dropped a 62-47 decision to the Leopards of Wentworth this evening in non-conference action from the Parkinson Gymnasium in the 2023 season opener for the Falcons.

 The Basic

Score: Fitchburg State 47, Wentworth 62

Records: Fitchburg State (0-1, 0-0 MASCAC) l Wentworth 1-0, 0-0 CCC)

How It Happened

1st quarter

The two teams traded buckets to open the contest as juniors Morgan Genness (Belgrade, ME) and Rylie Harlow (Hanson, MA) connected on buckets for Fitchburg State, while freshman Samantha Jones (Beverly, MA) notched a jumper for Wentworth.

Junior Maddy Foster (Lewiston, ME) netted a layup for the Leopard to trim the deficit to 13-12 before junior Kathryn Hart (Shirley, MA) buried a three ball and classmate Stephanie Hart (Ayer, MA) added a jumper to push the lead to 18-12.

2nd quarter

The hosts extended the lead to 20-16 as Harlow registered another layup, but the Leopards battled back to reduce the lead 24-23 junior Gabby Amoddio (Wethersfield, CT) drained a three ball. The Green and Gold upped the lead to 28-23 on baskets from Hart and junior Caileen Hurley (Whitman, MA) before junior Brianna Carroll (Douglas, MA) knocked down a three-pointer for Wentworth to make the score 28-26 going into the break

3rd quarter

Following the intermission, Wentworth went on a 10-2 run to start the third frame, led by Carroll's back-to-back three balls for the 36-29 advantage. Fitchburg State answered back on a K. Hart jumper (40-35), but the Leopards closed out the frame on a Amoddio jumper for the 48-38 edge.

4th quarter

The Leopards took the largest lead of the contest (60-38) with sophomore Reagan Madonia (Corrales, NM) sinking a jumper before the Falcons capped the scoring on a three-pointer from senior Olivia Almeida (Wilmington, MA) and layup by sophomore Aliza Som (Lowell, MA), resulting in the 62-47 final.

Inside the Numbers

• Falcons were led by Harlow with a team-best 14 points, one carom, three assists and four steals
• Som added seven points, three boards, one assist and three steals
• For the Leopards, Carroll finished with a game-leading 17, four rebounds, three assists and two steals
• Amoddio chipped in with 14 points, one assist, one steal and one block
• This evening's contest marked the first ever matchup between the school on the hardwood
• Fitchburg State shot 20-for-55 (36.4%) from the field and (4-of-20) 20.0% from downtown
• Wentworth went 24-of-50 (48.0%) overall and (6-for-18) 33.3% for beyond the arc
• Falcons finished with a 36-28 margin on the glass

Up Next

Falcons return to action on Saturday as they travel to Lesley to take on the Lynx in non-conference action, starting at 2:00PM.

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