WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University women's basketball team dropped a 73-46 decision to the No. 1 team in the country, Tufts University, Wednesday afternoon at the Lancers' ninth annual "Math Madness" event.
Jumbos' Michela North (Duxbury, Mass.) and Melissa Baptista (Somerville, Mass.) posted 21 and 17 points, respectively, to lead all scoring. Erica DeCandido (North Wales, Pa.) was the third Jumbo to score double figures with 10 points.
Helping the Jumbo's offense were Laura Dillon (Wellesley, Mass.), Jacqueline Knapp (Westfield, N.J.), and DeCandido with 5-4-4 assists, respectively. Baptista led the defense with six defensive rebounds, three blocks, and five steals. Knapp collected a game-high seven steals on the afternoon.
Tufts opened the game with six unanswered points from North, and then saw an eight point lead with 4:39 remaining in the first quarter. Worcester State closed the first quarter with a triple from Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) and a layup from Bianca Langford (Worcester, Mass.) to trail by just three going into the second.
Worcester State got within two in the first minute of the second quarter, however, the Jumbos went on a 9-0 run and advanced their lead to 11 with five minutes remaining in the stanza. Worcester State pushed back and cut the gap to just six with a minute remaining on a jumper from Shaye Lane (Dracut, Mass.), but the Jumbos closed out the half with a jumper from DeCandido to post a 30-22 halftime score.
Tufts ran away with their lead in the second half of the game, as they outscored the Lancers 18-to-11 in the third, and 25-to-12 in the fourth quarter. Despite shooting 40% from the field in the first half, the Lancers couldn't keep up in the second as the Tufts shot 47.4% from the field in the frame.
Recording her third double-double of the season and shooting 50% from the field was Worcester State's sophomore forward, Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Worcester State's Britt Herring (W. Brookfield, Mass.) and Hackett gathered nine and seven points, respectively while Langford totaled eight rebounds and three blocks.
The Lancers return to the Lancer Gymnasium on Saturday (Jan. 14) when they host Fitchburg State in a 3 p.m. matchup. The Jumbos are back in action of Friday (Jan. 13) when they travel to Middlebury for a 7 p.m. game.
Students from the May Street School, Chandler Magnet, Tatnuck Magnet, Forest Grove, Flagg Street, and Narragansett Middle Schools attended the "Math Madness"
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