PAXTON, Mass. – The Worcester State University Lancers defeated the University of Saint Joseph Blue Jays 70-63 Tuesday night in non-conference action at the Fuller Activities Center for Worcester State's home opener.
Four players on both Worcester State and Saint Joseph (Conn.) scored in double digits. The Lancers' freshman center, Britt Herring (W. Brookfield, Mass.), registered the only double-double of the game, putting up 17 points and 11 rebounds. Herring also had a game-high five blocks against the Blue Jays. She is currently averaging 4.5 blocks per game thus far this season. Freshman forward, Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.), put up 15 points, while coming just two rebounds shy of a double-double with eight. Sophomore guard, Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.), and freshman Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) scored 14 and 12 points, respectively, for the Lancers.
On the Blue Jays offensive end, senior guard, Stephanie DeJesus (Meriden, Conn.), scored the game-high 17 points. Sophomore guard, Rajeen Mayo (Middletown, Conn.), scored 15 points, while junior Carlee Putnam (Niantic, Conn.) and sophomore Kayla Guest (Newington, Conn.) scored 14 and 12, respectively. Putnam had a game-high six assists and three steals on the evening. Defensively, St. Joseph's top rebounder was freshman Xiana Mebane (E. Hartford, Conn.) with seven (one offensive). Guest and Putnam marked three and two blocks for the Blue Jays.
The Blue Jays took the first lead of the night off a layup from junior Elisha Pertillar (Windsor, Conn.). Both teams kept the score tight in the first, as the Lancers' ended up going into the second quarter just up by two.
The Lancers kept their lead in the second quarter, until Putnam tied the score up at 22 with 6:08 left. Worcester's Herring and Hackett scored two buckets to advance once again, though, Saint Joseph tied it up again on buckets from Guest just a few minutes later. Worcester State rallied once again to take the lead, though the lead changed again when the Blue Jays had five unanswered points, claiming the 31-30 lead into the half.
The third quarter was huge for the Lancers, when they outscored the Blue Jays 19-11. This helped lift them over Saint Joseph and did not allow the Blue Jays to see the lead throughout the remainder of the game. Despite being tied twice more- once in the third, and once in the fourth - Worcester State went on a 9-2 run in the last three minutes of play, eventually resulting in the 70-63 win.
Worcester State had the shooting advantage over the Blue Jays in field goal percentage (45.8-to-40.3), 3-point field goal percentage (33.3-to-26.7), and from the free throw line, going 72.2 percent. The Lancers also out-rebounded the Blue Jays 40-to-29.
Worcester State will take a break from play over the Thanksgiving holiday, and will return to action next Thursday (Dec. 3) when they will take on UMass-Dartmouth on the campus of Assumption College. The Blue Jays' next game is scheduled for Sunday (Nov. 29) at Wesleyan.