Lancers Stall Women’s Basketball’s Offense in 73-56 Win

Worcester, Mass.- The Worcester State University women's basketball team used 23-point third quarter and strong defense to slow down the Framingham State offense and propel to a 73-56 victory in Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) game Wednesday evening.

With the win Worcester State moves to 11-9 and 5-3 MASCAC. The Rams are now 12-8 and 6-2 in league play.  

Worcester State took a quick 4-0 lead off a Catherine Sweeney (Lowell, Mass.) layup and a bucket from Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.). The Lancers held the lead until Framingham State came back with a triple from Raegan Mulherin (Baldwinville, Mass.) and a layup from Tiphani Harris (Revere, Mass.) for the 5-4 edge. The teams traded points and Framingham State held a 3-point advantage with 3:40 on the clock, but Worcester State came back with a 7-0 run to pull ahead by four. Framingham State ended the frame with a buzzer beating triple from Emily Velozo (Tewksbury, Mass.) for the 15-14 score in favor of the Blue and Gold. 

Sam Maglione (Lancaster, Mass.) started the Lancers scoring in the second, sinking a shot from 3-point range to extend the Lancer lead to four. Rams guard, Mulherin, hit a triple to shrink the Lancer lead to just one, 20-19. Worcester State scored the next four points, but Framingham State's Mulherin hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key to cut the Rams' deficit to two. The Lancers responded with a trey of their own to put the Lancer lead to 27-22. Worcester State maintained a slight lead through the remainder of the stanza, and went into the half leading 31-26 succeeding a layup from Emily Carens (Northborough, Mass.).  

After a turnover by the Rams, the Lancers were able to take advantage with a Herring layup to begin the third.  The Lancers slowly pushed away and attained a 10-point lead with 6:15 on the clock after back-to-back layups from Britt Herring (West Brookfield, Mass.) and a free throw from Sweeney. Mary Kate O'Day (Berlin, Mass.) recorded the next point for the Rams on a free throw shot with six minutes on the clock. Worcester State would propel to a 12-0 run and shutout the visitors offensively until the last four seconds of the quarter when Julia Sanborn (Dracut, Mass.) made a free throw shot. 

The Lancers entered the fourth quarter with a 20-point lead (54-34). Despite the Rams cutting Worcester State's lead down to as little as 13 in the quarter, Worcester State and held off the Rams and concluded the game with a final score of 73-56, Lancers. 

Worcester State's offense was led by Carens who posted a double-double of a career-high 17 points and 11 rebounds with three assists, two steals and a block. Sweeney also recorded a double double of 15 points and three rebounds with three assists and two steals, as well.  Herring put up 16 points, going 7-for-9 from the field, while Maglione made three triples and a jumper to total 11 points. 

Framingham State's Mulherin posted a game-high 24 points, connecting on 4-of-7 trey's while O'Day put up 11 points for the Rams. 

The Lancers connected on 47.5% of their shots in the game, making 41.7% from 3-point range.  Framingham State shot 32.3% from the field, connecting with 27.8% from beyond the arc.  

Worcester State returns to Lancer Gymnasium on Saturday (Feb. 3) to face MCLA in a 1 p.m. tilt. Framingham State heads to Salem State on the same date.

*Release courtesy of Worcester State sports info