Game 1: Babson - 88, Farmingdale State - 62
Game 2: Farmingdale State - 72, Albertus Magnus - 64
Amherst, Mass. - The Farmingdale State women's basketball team traveled to Amherst, Mass. for the Amherst Tip-Off Invitational this weekend. The Rams fell, 88-62, to Babson in the opening round and responded with a 72-64 victory over Albertus Magnus in Sunday's consolation game.
Babson (1-0) held a 29-20 lead in the second quarter and used a 6-0 run to extend the advantage to 35-20 with 3:09 remaining. The Rams trailed by 18 late in the second and closed the quarter with a Chelsea May (Baldwin, N.Y.) layup to go into halftime down, 39-23.
The Beavers opened the third quarter with four consecutive baskets to extend the lead to 47-23. Babson led by as many as 29 points late in the game en route to the 88-62 opening round victory.
FSC junior guard Tyra Harrison (Baldwin, N.Y.) scored a team-high 13 points and had three steals, while junior forward Essence Casey (Huntington Station, N.Y.) added 12 points and four boards.
Senior guard Giovanna Pickering (Hull, Mass.) tallied a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 10 rebounds, while adding five assists for Babson.
In the consolation game versus Albertus Magnus (2-2), the Rams broke an early 14-14 tie with back-to-back 3's from Harrison and freshman forward Ahyana Green (Freeport, N.Y.). FSC held a seven-point advantage late in the first before the Falcons closed the quarter with five straight points to cut the deficit to 23-21.
With 3:42 remaining in the second quarter and FSC ahead 32-29, a 7-2 run which saw a 3-pointer and pair of free-throws from junior guard Liz Durchhalter (Franklin Square, N.Y.) put the Rams ahead, 39-31.
Albertus Magnus again cut the FSC lead to one early in the third quarter until a 12-2 run gave the Rams their largest advantage of the day at 51-40. The Falcons quickly responded with an 11-2 run to close within two, 53-51, with 2:09 left to play in the third.
Leading 58-55 with 7:33 remaining in the game, eight unanswered points by the Rams, including a pair of AJ Smith (Freeport, N.Y.) layups, opened up a double-digit advantage at 66-55. Farmingdale State held at least a six-point lead the remainder of the way in the 72-64 consolation game victory.
Harrison, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, had a team-leading 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Green tallied 13 points and eight boards, while Durchhalter added 12 points in the win.
The Cougars were led by junior forward Olivia Bolden's (South Windsor, Conn.) game-high 19 points and 17 rebounds.
#2 Amherst claimed the tournament championship with a 67-62 victory over Babson.
The Rams will now travel to Merchant Marine for their first Skyline Conference game of the season on Thursday, December 1st at 5:00 p.m.
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