Salem State 56, Worcester State 40
Worcester, MA --- Salem State outscored Worcester State 43-21 in the second half with 12 point contributions from junior classmates Katie Bielonko (Chicopee, MA) and Danielle Jenkins (Marlboro, MA) to take home the 56-40 win this evening at Lancer Gymnasium in MASCAC basketball action.
With the win the Lady Vikings end a two game skid to improve to 7-11 overall and 2-5 in the conference while WSC dips to 5-13 and 1-5 in MASCAC play.
Jenkins led Salem State with her sixth double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds while Bielonko notched 12 points with eight boards as she went 10-for-12 from the free throw line. Senior Lauren Wholley (Danvers, MA) tallied 10 points with nine boards while junior Jakoya Wilkins (Dorchester, MA) had a great all-around game with nine points, five caroms and four steals.
Sophomore Kathleen Foley (Hudson, NH) led the Lancers with 12 points off the bench with four three pointers while freshman Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) recorded nine points and nine rebounds.
Tied 6-6 with 11:39 left to play in the opening half; Worcester State went on a 13-0 run to extend the lead to 19-8 with 5:26 on the clock. Salem State, however, cut the deficit with a 5-0 spurt to end the half trailing by just six points (19-13). The Lady Vikings ended the period shooting just 26 percent (6-for-23) from the field and while WSC hit a modest 34 clip (8-for-23) from the floor.
Over the first five minutes of the second half, Salem State cut into the lead and tied the score on a pair of free throws by junior Amanda LaPointe (Winslow, ME). The Lancers then took the lead on a trey by Foley at 14:41 before the Lady Vikings jumped ahead on a jumper from Wilkins (13:51).
Over the next 12 minutes of play the lead changed hands four times with two ties before Salem State took the 35-34 lead with 6:32 remaining in regulation. The Lady Vikings then settled into a groove and went on a 21-6 run to close out the contest.
SSC improved in the second stanza to connect for 40 percent (of their shots from the floor while they held the Lancers to just 23 percent (7-for-31) shooting from the field and 14 percent (2-for-14) from beyond the arc. After attempting just one free throw in the first half, the Lady Vikings went 18-for-23 from the charity stripe while Worcester State only attempted 11 for the entire game.
Salem State only committed five turnovers in the second half while they also edged out WSC in points off turnovers (15-4), steals (12-6) and second chance points (13-8).
Both teams will face their next opponent on the road. Worcester State will continue MASCAC play with MCLA on Saturday at 6 PM while Salem State will travel to Wilamantic, CT to take on nationally ranked Eastern Connecticut next Thursday.