Women's Basketball falls behind early in MASCAC setback to Worcester 65-54

Courtesy of Worcester Sports Information

WORCESTER, Mass.- The Worcester State University women's basketball team prevailed over the MCLA Trailblazers 65-54 in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference matchup Saturday afternoon at John P. Brissette Court.

With the win, the Lancers improve to 10-4 (2-1 MASCAC). The Trailblazers drop to 4-9 (0-3 MASCAC) with the defeat.

The Lancers started the game off strong on a 6-0 run, highlighted by a second chance layup from Catherine Sweeney (Lowell, Mass.). Hannah Mazzeo (Averill Park, N.Y.) ended the Lancer run with a layup coming off the bench. Emily Carens (Northboro, Mass.) hit two layups during the first quarter adding to the strong Worcester State offensive effort. Sam Maglione's (Lancaster, Mass.) triple at the end of the first quarter gave the Lancers a 15 point lead.

The second quarter saw the Trailblazers answer back to the Lancers offense where they outscored Worcester State 14-12. However, the powerful Lancer first quarter sent the hosts into the locker room up 37-28.

The third quarter saw back to back layups from Brittany Herring (West Brookfield, Mass.) to help solidify the Lancer lead. A pair of free throws from Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) gave Worcester State their largest lead of the afternoon of 16 points. Courtney Pingelski (Mechanicville, N.Y.) hit a triple to put the Trailblazers back in it.

MCLA cut their deficit to as few as eight points in the fourth quarter, but it proved to not be enough as the Lancers held on to their early lead. A pair of free throws made by Colleen Cutting (Auburn, Mass.) solidified the Lancer win, 65-54.

The Lancers shot an impressive 57.9% from inside in the arc in the first quarter. Herring finished the game as the high scorer with 18 points to go along with her nine boards. Sweeney was strong in the post with eight boards to help Worcester State's defensive efforts.

For MCLA L'Rae Brundige (Johnsonville, N.Y.) led the way with 14 points in the matchup. Mazzeo grabbed six boards, three of them offensive and chipped in eight points in the Trailblazer effort.

Next up for the Lancers, the will host Nichols College at noon on Monday in their Math Madness event. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. The Trailblazers will host Fitchburg State University on Wednesday evening in a conference matchup set to begin at 7:30 p.m.