NEWTON, Mass. -- Behind a pair of twenty-point scorers, Mount Ida opened their 2015 schedule with an 80-49 win over visiting Becker College in non-conference women's basketball action at Mount Ida Athletic Center on Saturday afternoon.
Sophomore center Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) led the way with 22 points, 16 of them in the second half, in which Mount Ida outscored the Hawks 42-18. Martinez also grabbed 12 rebounds for her third double-double of the season, and had four of Mount Ida's six team blocks.
Helping Martinez was the play of the Mount Ida backcourt. Point guard Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.) scored 20 points herself for Mount Ida, who as a team shot 44% in each half.
Guard Stephanie Champoux (Tewksbury, Mass.) scored 14 points and added five assists, while freshman Imani Bumpus (W. Hartford, Conn.) led all players with six assists and 14 rebounds.
The Hawks got most of their production from senior Brooke Martel (Griswold, Conn.), who scored 15 points on 6-11 shooting and freshman Alycia Dery (Millville, Mass.), who added 13 points, four assists and three steals.
Champoux and Jesse each scored ten points in the first half as Mount Ida got out to a 6-0 lead and then got it to double digits (13-3) on a layup by Bumpus.
Dery and Martel helped the Hawks fight back into the game, with Martel hitting a three-point jumper with 4:03 left in the half to make it 28-24 in favor of the hosts. Mount Ida responded with a 6-0 run, but five points by Dery, including a three-pointer, sent the game to half with Mount Ida ahead by just seven, 38-31.
The Mustangs led by the same margin seven minutes into the second half when they pulled off a 14-2 run that helped them seize control of the game. The hosts held Dery and Martel to just two points apiece in the second half and forced 17 turnovers with 10 steals in the final twenty minutes.
Gabrielle Gallo (Northport, N.Y.) picked up some of the load, as the Becker junior scored all seven of her points in the second half. She finished the game with five rebounds, an assist and a steal.
Bumpus had five thefts, and Martinez and Jesse had three apiece, with Jesse adding three of Mount Ida's 21 assists on 31 made field goals.
Freshmen Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) and Shanell Nardone (Tewksbury, Mass.) pitched in with seven points apiece, with Liotta hitting the only three-pointer and adding three assists and a steal, while Nardone had two steals and one dime. Sophomore Molly Alkingburg (Port Deposit, Md.) contributed six points and eight rebounds in just 14 minutes off the bench.
Becker matched their season average of 31 rebounds in the game, led by eight boards from Martel. The Hawks managed just 30% (6-20) from the free-throw line, while Mount Ida made 17-21 (81%) from the charity stripe but hit on just one of nine attempts from downtown.
Mount Ida (4-8) continues their streak of seven straight home games to start the new year when they host Wheelock on Wednesday, January 7th at 6:00 pm.
The Hawks (0-9) continue to look for their first win when they return to New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) play with a home game against Lesley next Saturday at 3:00 pm.