Worcester, MA – Worcester State took to the road tonight travelling to Salem State to in a #4/#5 seed MASCAC Quarterfinal match. The Lancers came out ready for action winning each of first three quarters to ultimately win the opening round of MASCAC play 80-57 to advance to the semifinal action.

Junior Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) and senior Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) paced the Lancers with 18 and 15 points, respectively, with teammate, graduate student Sarah Blomgren (Lunenburg, Mass.) pitching in 12 points and nine rebounds in the win.

The Vikings took the quick 5-0 lead after Alyssa Genness went a perfect 3 for 3 from the free throw line, but shortly after the Lancers would claim their first lead of the game with an 8-0 run of their own to put them ahead 10-7 halfway through the first quarter. The Vikings were able to briefly reclaim the lead in the final three minutes of the quarter, leading to an additional three lead changes before the Lancers scored six unanswered points to take the 20-15 advantage heading into the second quarter.

Two minutes into the second quarter, the Lancers found their first double-digit lead when another long run, this time an 8-2, run put them up, 28-17, forcing the Vikings to put a pause to play. Coming out of the regroup, Worcester was able to use their full court pressure to force three Vikings' turnovers to build on their lead. The Vikings would only get as close as 15 points in the second, as the Lancers commanded the whole quarter, to go into the half with the sizeable 47-27 advantage.

Salem opened the third quarter with a quick two points, before a scoreless two minutes was ended by four unanswered Lancer points, to put Worcester up 51-29 with 7:06 remaining. With under three minutes to go in the quarter, Clifford netted back-to-back three pointers to cut into the 20-point deficit and bring the Vikings within 18 (57-39) but the Lancers never took their foot off the throttle and would regain a 24-point cushion to head into the final ten minutes with the sizeable 63-39 lead.

The deficit proved to be too much for the Vikings to tackle in ten minutes, allowing the Lancers to cruise to the 80-57 victory over the Vikings.

The Lancers will continue their season on Thursday when they journey to Bridgewater State to take on the #1 seed in the tournament in the MASCAC semifinal. Game time is currently set for 7:30pm.