SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - The Worcester State University women's basketball team will go into the winter break happy after claiming a 68-60 win over Springfield College in non-conference play on Tuesday night in Blake Arena. The loss proved to halt the Pride's four-game winning streak, as the maroon and white is now 5-4 overall, while the Lancers improve to 7-3 on the year.
Springfield College, which shot 24-for-56 (42.9%) from the field in the setback, was led by senior guard Chelsea McAllister's (Baltimore, Vt.) 13 points, while Taylor Hall(Tolland, Conn.) added 11 points and three rebounds. Alex Goslin (South Windsor, Conn.) and Emily Jacques (Auburn, Maine) had 10 points apiece, while Gracie Restituyo (Barrington, R.I.) hauled in a team-best nine rebounds.
The Lancers, which were 24-of-48 (50.0%) from the field in the win, was led by 19 points from Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.), while Brittany Herring (West Brookfield, Mass.) chipped in 15. Berkel also had 10 rebounds, registering the games' lone double double. The Lancers owned the glass with a 34-24 rebounding margin, while Springfield College held a 32-24 edge in the paint.
Springfield College jumped out to an early 4-0 advantage following a jumper from McAllister at the 8:22 mark, before Worcester State answered with eight-straight points to take a four-point lead with 5:42 on the clock following a lay-up from Berkel. A three-pointer from Sam Maglione (Lancaster, Mass.) made it 15-8, Lancers, with 2:31 to play in the first, before the sophomore hit another to push the visitors' lead to 12, as Worcester State led 20-8 at the end of one.
Worcester State's Herring hit the opening lay-up of the second quarter to make it a 14-point advantage for the Lancers, but the Pride would narrow the gap to 11 on a triple from Jacques just 20 seconds later. With 4:00 left to play in the half, Restituyo finished a tough lay-up and drew a foul before converting the three-point play to make it 29-21, Lancers, before a free throw from McAllister with 18 seconds left made it a one point game. Worcester State would take a 29-28 lead into the locker room.
After the Lancers opened up the third quarter with a 15-4 surge to push their advantage to 44-32 with 4:37 on the clock, the Pride used a triple from Amanda Carr (West Haven, Conn.) to kickstart a 9-2 run as the Pride trimmed the visitors lead to 46-41 just over three minutes later.
Just 1:21 into the fourth quarter, Worcester State's lead grew back to 54-44 when Surprenant buried a deep three, but Springfield would respond with one final push and would pull within 58-55 with 3:36 left on the clock after Goslin hit a baseline floater. From there, the Lancers were able to convert their free throws, resulting in an eight-point victory over the Pride.
Springfield College will close out the first semester on Friday, December 14 when it travels to local foe Westfield State. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. Worcester State is off until New Year's Eve, when they play UC Santa Cruz in California.
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Release courtesy of Springfield College Sports Information.