Trailblazer women drop MASCAC contest to Fitchburg 74-54

North Adams, MA- The visiting Fitchburg State Falcons outscored MCLA 41-22 in the closing half to break open a close game as the downed the Trailblazers 74-54 this afternoon in MASCAC women's basketball action.  With the win, the Falcons improve to 2-3 in MASCAC play and 9-8 overall.  The Trailblazers dip to 8-10 overall, 0-5 in league play.

Amy Fahey had a monster night tallying game highs of 27 points and 15 rebounds.  Three other Falcons joined her in double figures, as Megan Wodzinski had 17, while Kelsey Johnston and Madeline Merchant chipped in with 13 and 15 respectively.

After the Falcons led 33-32 at halftime, MCLA scored the first five points out of the locker room to take the lead at 37-33.  The Falcons responded however, pushing the ball up the floor in transition and generating easy baskets.  After the visitors tied the score at 41, they used an 8-0 run to take a 49-41 lead with fifteen minutes to play.

The would remain at eight points a few minutes later until the Falcons went on a spurt to close out MCLA.  With the score now at 55-47, the Falcons would outscore MCLA 18-6 to move out to their largest lead of the night at 73-53.  Many baskets in the run were the result of the Falcons up tempo offense and Fahey. 

Fitchburg held the lead the entire first half.  Their largest lead was nine at 13-4 following an 8-0 spurt as Megan Wodzinski and Kelsey Johnston each drilled three pointers.  MCLA would battle back to trim the deficit to 24-22 after a Kaitlyn Chenevert free throw, but the Falcons once again answered with a 7-0 run using another Wodzinski triple to start the spurt making the score 31-24.  The Trailblazers though would answer with an 8-2 run to close the half, ending with consecutive buckets from reserve Olivia Repula to make the score 33-32 in favor of Fitchburg at halftime.

Fahey did most of her damage in the strong second half.  The junior scored 16 points in the closing period, while grabbing 10 boards as well.  The Falcons shot a solid 52% in the second half and outrebounded MCLA 26-18 in the half.

For MCLA, they were led by Lucy Tremblay who finished with 18 points on 7-15 shooting.  Johanna Miner added a team high 9 rebounds in the loss.

The Trailblazers will be back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to face Bridgewater State University.