Worcester, MA- On Saturday afternoon, the Worcester State Women's Basketball team went on the road to Trinity (CT), hoping to end their current two-game skid. While the Lancers played strong throughout the game, they could not end its losing streak as they were defeated by the Bantams 76-46.
Early in the game, Worcester State was able to stay close, with Trinity scoring 5 out of their first seven possessions on a strong Trinity defense to take an 11-9 lead. Then, with 2:40 remaining, Worcester State was able to hit a 3 from the wing to go up 16-9, which forced Trinity to call a timeout. Trinity ran a nice after-timeout (ATO) play to hit a straightaway three-point shot to cut the Worcester State lead to 4. After a big defensive stop, Worcester State led 17-14 after one quarter.
The score remained 17-14 in the advantage of Worcester State as the second quarter began. Worcester State kept its foot on the gas pedal as they scored the first two buckets of the second quarter to extend its lead to 21-14. Senior Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) converted a challenging and one layup to keep her team's lead at 7 points. Reilly Campbell (Willingford, Conn.) contributed 13 points by the halfway point of the second quarter to cut the Lancer's lead to 4. A couple of minutes later, junior Nya Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) spun for a problematic layup conversion to go up 30-24. Just before the end of the first half, Trinity went on a 6-0 run to tie the game 30-30, heading into the locker room.
Heading into the third quarter, the game remained knotted up at 30-30. Trinity retook the lead 32-30 as they fed Campbell inside for an easy post shot. The Bantam's picked up their defense to go on an 8-0 run to take a 38-30 lead with 6:37 remaining in the third quarter. Unfortunately for Worcester State, they could not stop the bleeding after the timeout as Trinity held them scoreless for more than half the quarter. The Bantam went on an improbable 28-0 run going back to the second quarter as the score read 52-30 on the scoreboard. Worcester State was able to outscore Trinity by two the rest of the quarter to cut Trinity"s lead to 20 at 56-36.
Trinity held a commanding 56-36 lead heading into the game's final quarter. Worcester State refused to quit as they went on a quick 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 14 at 56-42. Campbell continued her stellar performance as she assisted on three straight three-point baskets to increase her team's lead to 23 at 65-42 with under 5 minutes to play. It was all Trinity the rest of the way as they cruised to a 76-46 victory.
Worcester State (4-6) is back in action on Dec. 18 when they begin a holiday tournament in Hawaii against Saint Benedict with a tip-off at 8:00. Trinity (9-1) will be on the road on Dec. 30 against Springfield College with a tip-off at 5:30.