MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Worcester State women's basketball team dropped the first round game of the Courtyard Marriott Tournament, hosted by Wesleyan, Friday evening as four Cardinal players scored in double digits and Wesleyan shot 47.4 percent from the field to surpass the Lancers 75-42.
Wesleyan's Olivia Gorman (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) led the offense with 15 points, while Maddie Bledsoe (Newton, Mass.), Maeve Vital (Roswell, Ga.), and Tara Berger (Purchase, N.Y.) registered 13-12-11 points, respectively. Vitale was two rebounds short of a double-double as she grabbed eight boards throughout the contest and marked a game-high four steals.
The Lancers' offense was led by Britt Herring (W. Brookfield, Mass.) who netted 10 points. Bianca Langford (Worcester, Mass.) tallied eight points while Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) notched seven and Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) and Catherine Sweeney (Lowell, Mass.) chipped in six apiece.
Wesleyan jumped off to a quick start as they scored eight unanswered points in the first three minutes of play. The Lancers reached the scoreboard with 6:35 remaining in the first quarter on a good free throw from Langford to make the score 8-1. Despite points from Herring, Langford, and Surprenant, the Cardinals maintained a large lead and went into the second period up 18-7 as Bledsoe and Gorman kept the numbers rising.
The Cardinal's 11-point lead turned into a 23-point lead going into the intermission as Wesleyan's shots kept dropping and they took advantage of nine Lancer turnovers in the frame.
The Cardinals broke out of the locker room with a 10-2 run on field goals from Bledsoe and Vitale, along with a three from Gorman. Worcester State responded with four points from Herring and freshman Rachel Sutton (E. Douglas, Mass.), however, the Cardinals closed out the stanza up 57-28.
Worcester State had their largest scoring number in the fourth quarter as they netted 14 points, but it wasn't enough to catch up to the Cardinals, resulting in the 75-42 final.
With the loss, the Lancers drop to 3-4 overall and will play the loser of tonight's Skidmore vs. Keene State game tomorrow in the tournament consolation contest.