Salem, Mass. -- In the championship game of the 2014 Salem State Tip-Off Tournament, Olivia Murphy's (Canton, MA) 14 points helped the Beacons of UMass Boston defeat the Vikings of Salem State 63-41 on Saturday afternoon at Twohig Gymnasium. Beacons forward Kirsten Morrison (North Reading, MA), who scored her 1,000th career point at the 13:20 mark on a converted and-one opportunity, was selected to the all-tournament team along with Salem State's Maggie Reilly (Worcester, MA), Rachael Carter (Merrimack, NH), and Lasell's Katie Stopera (Hollis, NH). Murphy earned the tournament MVP as her Beacons took this year's Tip-Off championship.

Salem State's shooters sparked the offense early on as Reilly knocked down two three-pointers in the opening five minutes. The Beacons also came prepared to shoot the long ball as Mallory Nelson (Topsham, ME) and Taje Burston (Springfield, MA) each hit a trey to give UMass a slight 11-10 lead at 16:12. Reilly broke a Vikings' scoring drought with a made free throw at 12:20 that brought Salem State within five and then again brought the Vikings to within four with a three ball from the corner with just less than nine minutes left. UMass took advantage of their size difference, scoring 12 points in the paint as they out-rebounded Salem State 24-16 in the first half, a key to their 30-23 half time lead.

In the second half, the Beacons started pulling away after a Burton layup that sparked a 15-0 run that ran the clock to just under eight minutes. During that stretch, Grace Geary (Falmouth, MA) scored six points while Chantel Jordan (Brockton, MA) added four points. The Vikings scorers went cold as they went without a basket for more than eight minutes until Carter made a fast break layup at the 7:40 mark. Katie Mathieu (Coventry, CT) added seven points and four rebounds as the Beacons went on to win 63-41.

Carter finished with 21 points and eight rebounds while Reilly ended with 10 points as she shot 60% from beyond the arc.

UMass Boston takes the court again on November 25th at 5:30 p.m. when they face the Falcons of Fitchburg State. The Vikings play again on November 25th at 5:30 p.m. when they travel to take on the Fighting Scots of Gordon College.