BY TYLER MILLIKEN // Nov. 16, 2016 //

After months of anticipation, the women’s basketball team finally tipped off against Framingham State University in their season opener last night at the Eleanor Meyerhoff Katz Gymnasium.

Despite having a new team full of youth and inexperience, the Colonels were still quite confident heading into this matchup. The Rams seemed ready to jump on this flaw though, and immediately began the game with an extreme amount of defensive pressure.

Unfortunately, Curry didn’t seem prepared to deal with this type of game plan, because they started the match up struggling on all accounts. Between lazy defense, poor shooting, and an inability to hold onto the ball, it was impossible for the Colonels to find a rhythm.

Framingham State’s Mallory DeFeo would open up the scoring with a big three from the corner, and Curry was never able to find a lead after this.

The Rams were helped in part by center Alycia Rackliffe, who shadowed junior Nicole Rice for most of the game and limited her to only two points in 19 minutes on the court.

On the other side of the ball, Framingham struggled shooting-wise in the first quarter, as they were not able to take advantage of quite a few Colonel turnovers. Their defense would keep them in the game early though, with the scoreboard displaying only a 12-9 score.

Ram guard Quinn O’Connell opened up the second quarter with a wide open three, which marked the beginning of an offensive hot streak for Framingham.

DeFeo took advantage of these opportunities by putting up seven points of her own, showing no trouble banking shots from the perimeter or driving to the hoop and getting a bit physical.

Throughout the quarter, Curry’s opponent was setting a number of picks they just couldn’t get around, which created a number of open shots.

Those shots, paired with Coach Fran Elm’s inability to find a hot hand despite multiple substitutions led to a 35-13 deficit at the break.

Sophomore forward Tiphani Harris opened up the second half scoring six points in the first two minutes for the Rams and further increased the advantage. The Colonels’ nervous energy that was present pregame had completely worn off.

A three down the stretch from guard Mary Kate O’Day inflated the Framingham lead to 30 points with only a minute to go in the third and Coach Elms wasn’t holding back on his bench.

It was much of the same in the final frame as the Rams finished the last six minutes with a 16-0 run on their way to a 75-30 final score. It was not the way this team was looking to start their season, after working hard to formulate a new chemistry with so many new faces joining campus.

However, junior captain Rice noted that lack of knowledge was a hindering factor. “Honestly you have to chalk most of it up to inexperience. We added eight freshmen [to a team] that is really rebuilding after losing four out of five starters after last season.”

Coach Elms was also honest after the game, unsure of how his team will bounce back due to their youth, although mentioning, “As long as my girls learn from this, they’ll be okay. We just need to continually improve.”

Their next opportunity to improve comes before their Saturday Tip-Off Tournament as Pine Manor College (0-1) comes to the Katz Gymnasium.