Worcester State 82, The College of Wooster 63
Worcester, MA --- Sophomore guard Alexis George (Worcester, MA) scored 18 points with five assists and four steals to help lead Worcester State College to a 82-63 victory over The College of Wooster this afternoon at Lancer Gymnasium in non-conference women's basketball action.
The Lancers snapped a three game losing streak to improve to 3-6 with the victory in the "Wooster to Worcester Challenge" in the first ever meeting between the two schools. The Fighting Scots slip to 3-4 with the setback.
The opening half featured three lead changes and three ties as Wooster settled for the 31-30 lead at the intermission. Junior Kim Wenz (N. Ridgeville, OH) led all scorers in the first stanza with 16 points while the Fighting Scots also scored nine second chance points.
Down 38-42, at the 15:35 mark the Lancers went on a 9-4 run on the back of nine points scored by junior Reilly O'Keefe (Warren, MA) to take a 47-46 lead.
With the Lancers up 49-46, junior Kaitlin Krister (Kent, OH) nailed a layup with 11:52 left in the game to get back within one, but WSC went on a 24-7 run over the next 6½ minutes of play to settle on a 75-55 lead with 4:12 to go in the second period. During the run sophomore Kathleen Foley (Hudson, NH) recorded 10 points while George chipped in seven.
WSC extended their largest lead to 82-60 following a layup by junior Alison Polansky (Oxford, MA) with 1:12 left in regulation before a Wooster trey ended the contest as time expired.
O'Keefe helped pace the Lancers with 22 points as she went 9-for-15 from the field while Foley added 16 points in 17 minutes off the bench for Worcester State. Freshman Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) registered 11 points with five rebounds and three steals while senior Erin McCullough (Harvard, MA) grabbed five caroms with a game-high six assists.
Wenz had a great all-around game as she finished with 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and a game-best six steals. Freshman Christina Cruce (Findlay, OH) scored 16 points as she only logged 18 minutes of action in the contest.
In the second half Worcester State shot 58% (18-for-31) from the floor to finish with 49% for the game. Both teams were equal with points scored in the paint (24-24) while Wooster held a slim 39-35 rebounding advantage.
Both teams will play their next contest on 12/29. Worcester State will play at the UC Santa Barbara West Coast Classic to face Williams in the first round before squaring off against Suffolk on the following day. Wooster travels to Westminster (PA), before starting NCAC conference play for a 6 PM tip-off.