WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University women's basketball team outscored Wellesley 18-6 in the third quarter to push past the Blue for a final score of 64-47 in the Lancers' home opener Sunday (Nov. 26) evening inside the Lancer Gymnasium.
THE BASICS
November 26, 2017
Lancer Gymnasium
Score: Worcester State 64, Wellesley 47
Records: Worcester State (3-2), Wellesley (2-2)
1ST QUARTER
The Blue were the first to reach the scoreboard as Zojaha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) drained a triple 1:16 into the game. The Lancers' first bucket was scored by Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) just over a minute later to bring Worcester State within one. The Blue kept the slim lead until Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) put the Lancers ahead on a layup mid-way through the stanza. On the next possession, Wellesley came back with a 3-pointer from Kayla Jang (South Pasadena. Calif.) to go ahead once again and ignite a 9-0 run to attain a seven point lead with 2:15 remaining in the first. Worcester State fought back and got within two with 57 seconds remaining. They wrapped up the quarter with a buzzer shot from Sam Ellis (Grafton, Mass.) to head into the second trailing by one.
2ND QUARTER
Worcester State saw its second lead of the day 51 seconds into the second when Berkel made a layup. Though, Wellesley took back the lead when Jang made a pair of free throws. The teams traded points for the rest of the quarter as neither team saw a lead greater than four. The stanza ended with a jumper from Wellesley's Chelsea Brown (San Jose, Calif.) to knot the score at 28-28 going into the intermission.
3RD QUARTER
Worcester State slowly edged away from the Blue in the first half of the third quarter, until the Lancers blasted ahead on a 9-0 run started by Ellis with 3:40 to go in the stanza. The Blue and Gold headed into the final quarter ahead by 12 (46-34). The Lancers outscored the Blue 18-6 in the third.
4TH QUARTER
Worcester State maintained the 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and ended the final frame with an 8-4 run to conclude the final score at 64-47. The Lancers' largest lead of the game came in the 4th win 1:03 remaining. Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) guided the Lancers in the final stanza as she totaled eight points on two three's and a pair of free throws.
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
- Worcester State was led by Herring who had a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds and also notched a season-best four blocks and four assists.
- Berkel also reached double-digits in points with 14. She came one rebound short of a double-double with nine.
- First-year Colleen Cutting (Auburn, Mass.) scored 10 points as she went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including two triples.
- Hackett tallied totaled eight points, while Sweeney put in six with a team-best five assists and three steals.
- Wellesley had three players score double-digits: Jang and Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) each had 11 points, while Lane Arkangel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) totaled 10.
- The Blue's Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif.) led the team in board with seven.
- Aguirre and Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) each had three steals in the setback.
- The Lancers shot 52 percent from the field (26-50) and 40 percent from 3-point range (4-10).
- Wellesley shot 27.1% from the field, and 26.3% from beyond the arc.
- The Blue logged a 76.9 free throw percentage, making 10-of-13 free throws.
- Worcester State outrebounded Wellesley 44-24.
- Half of Worcester State's points were scored in the paint.
- Last year, the Lancers beat the Blue by a score of 61-52.
UP NEXT
Worcester State heads to Connecticut College on Wednesday (Nov. 29), while Wellesley also resumes play then and travels to Emerson for a 7 p.m. tilt.
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