WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State women's basketball recorded 30 assists on 36 made baskets and shot better than 65% from the field as they defeated Salem State 83-52 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) women's basketball quarterfinals on Tuesday evening at Brissette '88 Competition Court.
The fourth seeded Lancers (12-13) are back in the MASCAC semifinals for the fourth consecutive season. Prior to the 2020-21 season being cancelled, Worcester State was in the MASCAC championship game in 2019-20 and 2018-19. The #5 seed Vikings see their season end with a record of 7-18.
Six different Lancers had three or more assists, including all five starters, led by Elizabeth Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.), who dished out seven assists, and Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) who had six dimes to go with 13 points.
Worcester came out shooting at a blistering rate in the opening quarter, going 9-12 from the floor, but the Vikings kept pace by firing better than 53% themselves.
It was the second quarter where the Lancers got some separation, opening the quarter on a 10-2 run to take a 30-16 lead when Gigi LeMay (Grafton, Mass.) put back an offensive rebound at 6:33 of the quarter.
Salem State was held to just 4-19 from the floor in the second quarter and Worcester State outscored them 22-8 to take a 20-point lead at the break.
LeMay had 15 points and seven rebounds at halftime on 7-9 shooting as the Lancers went 20-35 (69%) from the floor in the opening twenty minutes. She finished the day with 19 points, 8 rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block.
The Lancers held Salem without a field goal four more than three minutes out of halftime and extended their lead to 50-23 when Elizabeth Gallella blocked a shot on one end of the floor and then hit a jump shot at the other end.
Salem was led by their two post players, Irianis Delgado (Lynn, Mass.) and Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.), who combined to shoot 15-32 from the field. Delgado had a team-high 18 points, while Zaiter had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Joining the double-digit scorers for Worcester State, Abby St. Martin (Putnam, Conn.) had 14 points while filling the stat sheet with five assists, three steals and two blocks. Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) and Calli Korbey (Hopkinton, Mass.) had three dimes apiece as well. Elizabeth Gallella added to her assist total with 9 points (4-6 shooting), eight rebounds, a steal and a block.
If seedings hold, the Lancers will be on the road on Thursday night for their MASCAC semifinal game. Opponent and game time will be determined at the conclusion of tonight's other games.