PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Worcester State University Lancers tipped off the first women's basketball game of the Arizona Shootout at the Phoenix Convention Center Tuesday afternoon. The Lancers matched up against the undefeated Keene State College, only to fall 80-49 as the Owls' Sandi Purcell (Hudson, N.H.) led her team with 19 points and two others scored in double digits.
The others scoring in double digits for the Owls were junior forward, Stephanie D'Annolfo (Tyngsborough, Mass.) with 11 and senior forward Ryanne Williams (Norwell, Mass.) with 10. D'Annolfo came up one rebound short of a double-double as she led her team with nine. She also had a game-high seven assists against the Lancers.
For the Lancers, freshman forward, Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) led the team with 11 points. Sophomore guard Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) put up nine points, while TaNajia Smith (South Windsor, Conn.) added in eight for the Blue and Gold.
The Lancers kept the game close with the Owls early on, as the biggest lead in the first quarter was by five. Worcester State took the lead with 6:38 left in the second quarter on a jumper from Berkel. Though, with 6:19 left in the second quater, the Owls answered with a layup from Amanda Petrow (Metheun, Mass.) to take the 20-19 lead. The Owls then went on to score 15 unanswered points in the second quarter, until Worcester State's Natasha Gonzalez (Milford, Mass.) made a jumper with 2:18 remaining in the period. With the Owls' second quarter performance, the teams went into the locker rooms at halftime with a 40-24 score in Keene State's favor.
Keene State ran away with the lead to start the third quarter. Right off the bat the Owls scored three 3-point shots to increase the score to 49-24. The Owls left the Lancers basketless until there was 5:43 remaining in the third from where they extended their lead to 32 by the end of the third, outscoring the Lancers 28-12 in that quarter.
The fourth quarter was evenly scored, as Worcester State put up 13 points and the Owls scored 12. Though, the Lancers struggled to close the gap, resulting in the 80-49 win for Keene State.
The Owls out-rebounded the Lancers 44-27. Keene State shot 50 percent from the field as a team, while the Lancers shot 39.2 percent overall. Both teams shot 50 percent from the free throw line.
With the win, the Owls move to a 9-0 season record, while the Lancers drop to 3-6. Worcester State will return to the court tomorrow as they will face Eastern Connecticut State University at 2 p.m. EST before returning to the East Coast.