Fitchburg, MA --- Senior Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) poured in a season-best 26 points on 7-of-12 shooting with 10 made free throws to help propel Worcester State to a 61-48 triumph over Fitchburg State in MASCAC women's basketball action this evening at the FSU Recreation Center.

The Lancers improve to 15-9 overall and move to 6-5 in MASCAC action while securing a first-round home game in next week's conference playoffs. In the loss, Fitchburg State falls to 13-10 and 4-7 in league action.

Junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) was another standout for the visitors with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 8 blocks as senior Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA) chipped in with 10 points, five boards and four rejections.

Frankian equaled her career high when she netted 26 points in a road victory on January 14 last season against Salem State.

Senior Kristen Enright (Westminster, MA) paced Fitchburg State with 12 points, 17 boards and three blocks. Classmate Rebecca Fluet (Fitchburg, MA) and fourth-year teammate Laura Cote (Ashby, MA) both added 12 points apiece for the hosts.

Fluet also added six caroms, six helpers and five swipes for the Falcons.

With the Lancers holding the early 10-9 advantage near the halfway point in the first period, the visitors embarked on a 10-3 run and opened up a 20-12 edge with 6:20 on the clock. El-Qasem and Langford combined for eight points in the skein.

As Worcester State maintained the 25-15 margin just two minutes later, Enright recorded six points to help the Falcons counter with quick 8-0 spurt to trail 25-23 and 52 ticks remaining.

After El-Qasem and Frankian pushed the Lancers up by six in the waning moments of the opening frame, Fluet and senior Britney Payne (Franklin, KY) sank field goals in the paint helped bring the score to 29-27 at the intermission.

The contest was close early in the second period, but the Blue and Gold utilized a 15-0 surge to open up a 48-31 contest with 11:59 on the clock. Langford tallied five points and Frankian jacked a pair of trifectas in the run.

The Lancers led by as many as 16 points before the hosts outscored their opponents, 7-0 to trail 49-40 at the 3:18 mark on the back of a lay-up by Fluet with 3:18 remaining.

Worcester State's entire offense down the stretch came from an excellent effort from the charity stripe with the visitors canning all 10 of their bids to help clinch the victory.

The Blue and Gold hit 38 percent of their shots overall (20-for-53) while also hitting 82 percent from the free throw line (18-for-22), due in large part to Frankian's 10-for-12 effort.

The Falcons could not shrug off a porous shooting night from the floor ending the evening with a 21 percent clip (17-for-81), which included 16 percent in the second stanza alone (7-for-45).

FSU did manage to hit 75 percent of their shots for the game from the line (12-for-16), but only nailed two of their 12 bids from beyond the arc.

Fitchburg State, however, held a double-digit margin in rebounds (56-44) and led in offensive boards (20-15). The hosts also forced 23 miscues and held a 20-13 edge in points off turnovers due in large part to 13 swipes.

Both squads close out their MASCAC regular season slates on Saturday with 1 PM home games. Worcester State hosts Framingham State while Fitchburg State entertains conference unbeaten Westfield State.