WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State women's basketball dropped a 61-51 decision to visiting Saint Joseph's College (ME) in a non-conference game on Saturday evening at Brissette Court.
The Lancers (2-2) trailed by just a point at the break, but Saint Joe's extended their lead with a 20-13 third quarter, and Cassandra Stapelfeld (Brookline, N.H.) had 10 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
The Lancers got 12 points from Gigi LeMay (Grafton, Mass.) and nine apiece from Sarah Blomgren (Lunenberg, Mass.) and Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.), but were outgunned from the floor, where the Monks shot 47.8%. Saint Joe's also had a 38-23 edge in rebounds, led by eight apiece from Kaleigh Walsh (Windham, N.H.), Angelica Hurley (Groverland, Mass.) and Jayne Howe (Pembroke, Mass.).
Walsh and Howe each had double-doubles with 16 and ten points, respectively. Walsh handed out three assists and had a steal and a block, while Howe had three steals.
Blomgren made a layup at the beginning of the fourth quarter to pull the Lancers within six, but Stapelfeld scored six straight points on layups, and converted another bucket with five minutes left to put the Monks ahead 56-45.
Emma Found (Wakefield, Mass.) answered with a three-pointer, but the eight-point deficit was as close as Worcester would get the rest of the way.
Found had six points off the bench, while Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) and Madison Gutierrez (Holyoke, Mass.) added four points apiece in limited minutes. Elizabeth Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) scored seven points and had four assists and two steals, while Erin Gallella led the team with five dimes and had three thefts of her own.
Worcester State held the Monks scoreless from three-point land (0-4) while converting 4-13 from deep themselves. The Lancers only got to the free-throw line seven times, while Saint Joe's Maine was 17-23 at the charity stripe.
Saint Joe's Maine (1-0) continues a three-game road trip to start their season, heading to UNE on Thursday at 5:30 PM.
Worcester State travels to the Bowdoin College tournament next weekend in Brunswick, Maine.