Emerson and Wesleyan Advance to Championship Game

BOSTON, Mass - It was an exciting first day at the Annual Emerson Women's Basketball Tip Off Tournament with great performances from each team. In the first matchup of the day, the Emerson Lions defeated the Simmons Sharks, 77-67. The second matchup saw Wesleyan and Suffolk to go OT where the Cardinals pulled ahead of the Suffolk Rams, winning 59-54.

The Lions rise to 1-1 overall, while the Sharks fall to 0-1. Wesleyan is now 1-0 on the season while Suffolk falls to 1-1.

Lead scorers for the Lions include Natalie Busch and Sierra Ducey with 17 and 16 points respectively. Ducey lead the Lions in rebounds with 18 and had 3 blocked shots. Junior Eastin Ashby had 11 points and 6 steals, while senior Elizabeth Horan added 9 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. Freshman Natalie Clydesdale rounded out the Lions offense with 7 points of her own and 3 rebounds.

Leading for the Sharks was Kimberlee Hixon with 18 points, 7 rebounds, and a blocked shot. Right behind her was Liz Brasa with 14 points and 7 rebounds as well. Presley Silva added 12 points of her own and had 4 blocked shots.

In the second matchup of the day, the Suffolk Rams fell just short after taking the game to OT. Georgia Bourikas scored a game leading 26 points and added 8 rebounds. Behind her were Caitlyn Caramello and Kelsey Schiebel with 10 and 9 points respectively. Caramello lead the Rams in rebounds with 10, while Schiebel lead the team in assists with 8.

For the Wesleyan Cardinals Maeve Vitale lead the offense with 14 points, but was followed closely by Danielle Gervacio with 13 points and Olivia Gorman with 12. Tara Berger added 10 points of her own and also had 10 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.

Day two of the Tip Off Tournament will take place tomorrow, Sunday Nov 20th. Simmons and Suffolk with play in the consolation game at 1:00pm, followed by the Championship game featuring Emerson and Wesleyan at 3:00pm