Los Angeles, CA --- Chapman freshman Sandra Gao (Roland Heights, CA) highlighted four teammates in double –figure scoring as she finished with 14 points and 10 boards to help pace the Panthers to a 60-48 win over Worcester State in the first round of the Tiger/Panther Classic at Occidental on Saturday afternoon.

For Chapman (10-2), sophomore Andrea Villanueva (Chino Hills, CA) also had 13 points, four rebounds, three assists and five swipes while senior Emily McCoy (Villa Park, CA) added 12 points on a 7-for-8 effort at the free throw line with four steals.

Second-year Nicole Moy (Morton Grove, IL) chipped in with 10 points in 14 minutes for the Panthers.

Sophomore Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA) led Worcester State with 14 points with a 7-for-9 effort from the field as newcomer Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) registered 10 points and six rebounds in her debut.

Junior Meaghan Burns (N. Brookfield, MA) also ended the afternoon with seven points and five steals and senior Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) corralled a game-best 15 caroms for the Blue and Gold.

Worcester State led by as many as 18-8, eight minutes into the contest before Chapman utilized a 21-3 outburst to open up a 27-21 edge with 1:30 left in the opening half. The Panthers took the lead on a jumper by Gao near the five minute mark.

After Frankian netted a bucket to break the ice for the Lancers make the score 27-23, Chapman netted the last five points of the stanza for the 32-23 lead at the intermission.

Despite being down by nine at the half, WSU still shot 44 percent for the period (11-for-25) while the Panthers did their damage at the free throw line (10-for-13 – 77 percent).  

The Lancers whittled the lead down to five to start off the second stanza on the back of a O'Keefe three-pointer early on (34-29), but the Panthers proved to be too strong as they went up into double-digits at the midway point.

With the 56-42 advantage at the 3:52 mark in sight, the Blue and Gold made one final push with a 6-0 run to trail by eight, the Villanueva helped the Panthers finished off the contest with four straight points for the final score.

Chapman used 18 steals to create 30 Lancer turnovers as they led in points off turnovers (23-11). Worcester State led the battle for the ball in the paint (32-26) and off the glass (45-31) while second-chance points were even (14-14).

The Panthers limited their opponents to shoot just 30 percent in the second half (9-for-30) while finishing the final period with a 38 percent line from the field (12-for-32).

Neither squad shot well from beyond the arc as Chapman was just one-of-11 as WSU ended the contest one-for-14 from downtown.

The Lancers will finish off their West Coast trip on Sunday with a 6 o'clock matchup with Occidental while the Panthers play Red River of Winnipeg, Manitoba at 3 PM.