BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Boston matched the program record for longest winning streak, thanks a 76-63 win over Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Preseason Favorite Framingham State University Tuesday evening.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 76, Framingham State 63

(UMass Boston 7-1)

(Framingham State 3-3)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Beacons outscored the Rams in every quarter and tied the program record with 13 made 3-pointers to earn their sixth-straight win.   

UMass Boston went 13-32 from distance (40.6 percent) and had four different players knock down at least one three.

Freshman Joie Grassi (Plymouth, Mass.) put together the best game of her career in the win. The freshman forward recorded a career-high 25 points and 15 rebounds and knocked down 5-of-11 shots from distance. She also added two steals, two blocks and one assist. 

Fellow freshman Megan Dixon (Hanover, Mass.) was just as potent from downtown. The sharpshooter went 5-of-12 from distance and finished with 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Freshman Shania Osborne (Fairfield, Conn.) also put together a huge game in her collegiate debut. Osborne recorded eight points on 2-of-2 shooting and tacked on four rebounds and two blocks in 10 minutes of action. 

Framingham State Raegan Mulherin kept the Rams in the game all evening long, as she went off for 28 points on 9-of-24 shooting. Mary Kate O'Day added 19 points, while Mallory DeFeo (12) and Tiphani Harris (10) both recorded double-digit rebounds.

UMass Boston jumped out to an 8-1 run, only to see Framingham State retaliate with a 12-0 flurry of their own. That would foreshadow what was to come, as both teams traded big runs throughout the contest.

The Beacons took the lead back with a 9-0 run to make it 19-16 and carried that lead throughout the rest of the half. UMass Boston stretched their advantage to as many as eight (28-20), but a late Framingham State run made it 34-32 Beacons heading into the break. 

Framingham State came out firing from distance to start the third quarter and grabbed a 45-40 lead with 5:28 remaining in the third quarter.

The Beacons counted with threes from Dixon and Whitney Fulton (Norwalk, Conn.) to take the lead back. Emily Velozo gave the Rams the lead one final time with 3:15 to play in the quarter, but Dixon knocked down another 3-pointer and Grassi followed with five points in a row to make it 56-50 Beacons. 

Mulherin cut the deficit down to 56-54 six seconds into the fourth quarter, but that would be as close as it would get. Grassi would make sure of that, as the freshman hit back-to-back threes to make it a 62-54 game with 6:41 left.

Dixon and Jalani Jackson (Brockton, Mass.) added one two more threes to push the lead to double-digits and UMass Boston would cruise from there.

BY THE NUMBERS 

• The Beacons have won six in a row for just the fifth time in program history. UMass Boston also won six in a row to start Kristina Baugh's career at UMass Boston (2015-16).
• UMass Boston shot a season-high 44.8 percent (26-58) from the field in the win.
• With the win, UMass Boston improved to 20-10 all-time against the Rams.
• The Beacons 13 made 3-pointers tied their record-setting performance from last year, when they hit 13 at Keene State College (12/10/2016) in an overtime win.
• Senior Lydia Vital (Cambridge, Mass.) recorded seven assists in the win. The Little East Conference leader in assists per game has posted seven or more assists in each of the past four games.
• Grassi set a new career-high for points in a second-straight game. She has recorded 20 or more points in three of her first eight collegiate games.

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will look to set the program record for longest winning streak, when they host Rhode Island College on Saturday at 1 p.m.