Springfield, MA --- Sophomore Meaghan Burns (West Brookfield, MA) scored 14 of her 18 points in the second half as the Worcester State posted a 65-55 victory over Western New England in a non-conference game this evening at the Alumni Healthful Living Center.
The Lancers, who were playing their first game since returning from a tournament in Hawaii on December 20, are now 5-6.
The Golden Bears drop to 2-7 after making their first appearance on the court since December 10.
Senior Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) had a double-double for the visitors with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Junior Meghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) also had 11 points with eight rebounds and three blocks.
Western New England started strong taking three 14-point leads in the opening first half, the last coming at 24-10 on a basket by freshman Sam McCann (Warren, MA) who was a teammate of O'Keefe and Burns at Quabog Regional High School.
Worcester State used a 17-4 run in the final nine minutes to trail by only one (28-27) at halftime.
The Lancers took their first lead at 33-31 when Burns made a layup with 16:31 left.
Junior Emily Savino (Ellington, CT) made a free throw and senior Sarah Proper (Coxsackie, NY) hit a jumper to give the Golden Bears their last lead at 34-33 at the 15:28 mark.
Worcester State went on a 10-0 run for a nine-point advantage at 43-34 capped by a jumper by freshman Kelli McPherson (Mansfield, MA) with 11:26 remaining.
Western New England made a nice comeback getting within 56-55 on a layup by McCann with 2:09 left, but didn't score again.
The Lancers ended the contest with nine straight points, including a pair of three-point plays by Burns.
Savino led Western New England with 20 points while sophomore Ali Pessolano (Hampden, MA) added 11 points. Proper finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
Worcester State shot 47 percent (26-for-55) from the field while Western New England managed to make only 36 percent (21-for-59) of its field-goal attempts.
After connecting for just three-of-10 from the free throw line in the opening frame, the Blue and Gold were eight-for-10 in the second half. They only hit two of their 11 attempts from downtown and limited the Golden Bears to hit just three of their last 16 tries from three point land.
Both teams had 37 rebounds as the Golden Bears held a 10-8 edge in offensive boards. WSU held leads in points in the paint (25-16), points off turnovers (13-8) and second-chance points (10-5).
Charette is now 39 points away from becoming the 17th Lancer to score 1,000 points.
The two squads will play conference opponents on Saturday afternoon. Worcester State travels to Framingham State as they begin MASCAC play at 3 o'clock while Western New England entertains Endicott at 1 PM.
Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Western New England Sports Information