NEWTON, Mass. – The Mount Ida College women's basketball team fell to the visiting Rams of Suffolk University on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 80-68 at the Mount Ida Athletic Center.
Being the last home game of the season, senior guard Jordawn Moses (Arlington, Mass.) was honored before the game on Senior Day for her contributions to the women's basketball program over the course of the last two seasons. In her finale in a green and white uniform Moses grabbed three rebounds in the conference setback.
Mount Ida was led by Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) who knocked down a team high 19 points, four rebounds and six assists. Angie Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) scored 18 points to go along with 11 rebounds while Breanna Muir (Wareham, Mass.) tallied 17 points, three assists and two rebounds and teammate Brittany Crosby (Riverside, R.I.) recorded 12 points and eight rebounds.
Suffolk, who will be the fourth seed in the upcoming Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament, was led by junior Georgia Bourikas (Hull, Mass.) who paved the way with 20 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Chelsea Campellone (Fall River, Mass.) and Alexandra Clarke (Boothbay Harbor, Me.) each recorded a double-double while Campellone knocked down 10 points and 12 rebounds while Clarke notched 13 points and 13 rebounds. Point guard Kelsey Schiebel (Windham, N.H.) also tallied 13 points to go along with four rebounds and six assists.
In a back and forth first half, Suffolk led by as many as eight points, 20-12 at the 1:15 mark of the opening ten minutes of play. Mount Ida scratched their way back into it at 31-27 off two made free throws by Crosby before Liotta knocked down one of her three three's in the contest to even things up at 31-all. Bourikas knocked down a three pointer for the visitors with 21 seconds left in the opening half to give Suffolk the three point lead, 34-31 at the break.
The Rams opened up the half on a hot streak as they extended the lead to eleven points at 42-31. Alexandra Nagri (Salem, N.H.) knocked down a trey before Campellone put home a layup to give the visitors the lead for good. The Mustangs continued to claw their way back into the game as Crosby knocked down a pair of free throws that brought the Mustangs back within five points, 44-39.
Suffolk extended the lead back to double digits at 49-39 with 2:11 remaining in the 3rd quarter as they continued to keep Mount Ida at bay.
Headed into the fourth, Suffolk once again led by 10 points as they looked to eliminate the Mustangs from playoff contention at 55-45. The Mustangs got back the game back into striking distance at 71-64 but the Rams knocked down all of their free throws down the stretch to put a cap on the regular season while heading into the GNAC tournament on a five game winning streak.
The Mustangs season comes to an end at 6-19 (3-8 GNAC) while the Rams head into the postseason at 16-9 (8-3 GNAC). Suffolk will host Norwich on Tuesday evening with game time still yet to be determined.