Lancers Advance to MASCAC Semifinals in 77-63 Win over MCLA

Worcester State 77, MCLA 63

Box Score

Worcester, MA --- Junior Reilly O'Keefe (Warren, MA) and freshman Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) combined for 34 points to help pace fourth seeded Worcester State secure a 77-63 victory over fifth seeded MCLA this evening at Lancer Gymnasium in the quarterfinal round of the MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament.

The Lancers (9-16) will travel to top-seed Westfield State on Friday for a 5:30 PM matchup in the semifinal round.  Sixth seeded Salem State, who upset #3 Bridgewater State 61-55 earlier this evening, will tip-off against second-seeded Fitchburg State at Westfield the other semifinal game at 7:30. The championship will take place on Saturday for the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Tournament.

MCLA, who finishes with the most wins in the history of their program, ends the 2008-09 campaign with a record of 14-12.

With the Lancers ahead 4-0 in the early going of the game, the Trailblazers went on a 20-6 run to take a 20-10 lead with 9:25 remaining in the opening stanza. MCLA extended the lead to 26-15 at the 6:41 mark on three consecutive free throws by sophomore Molly Broda (Southampton, MA) before Worcester State went on a 20-6 spurt to close out the half.

Two layups by WSC freshman Brittney McGinness (Billerica, MA) sandwiched a freshman Allie Dobrovolc (Little Falls, NY) jumper to help the Blue and Gold get within one with 1:03 left (32-31). Worcester State took the lead on a bucket by senior Erin McCullough (Harvard, MA) and sophomore Alexis George (Worcester, MA) helped give the Lancers a three-point cushion (35-32) entering to enter the intermission.

After a Charette field goal gave Worcester State the 37-32 lead to open up the second stanza, the Trailblazers went on a 7-2 run to tie the score 39-39 at the 15:52 mark. From that point the Lancers would then take control of the contest and outscored MCLA 11-4 over the next three minutes of play to take a 50-43 lead (12:29).

The Trailblazers cut to advantage to five points twice at 10:18 (50-45) on a Broda field goal and again at 9:15 (52-47) on a junior Jade Prickett (Westhampton, MA) layup, but WSC tallied five unanswered points to take a 57-47 lead with eight minutes left to play. Worcester State doubled up MCLA with an 18-9 run over the next six minutes to build up their largest lead at 75-58 with 2:04 left to cruise ahead for the victory.

O'Keefe finished with 18 points and three made treys while Charette added 16 points. Junior Brianne Flanders (Southampton, MA) grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds while McCullough chipped in with 13 points and four steals. McGinness also ended the evening with eight points and seven rebounds (six offensive) in 18 minutes off the bench for the Lancers.

Dobrovolc recorded a team-best 17 points for MCLA while freshman Jen Wehner (Cooperstown, NY) and Broda poured in 14 and 10 points, respectively.

Worcester State dominated on the boards as they posted a 39-22 advantage with an 18-5 edge coming off the offensive glass. The Lancers also held a commanding 16-1 scoring margin in second chance points and a 38-16 lead in the paint.

WSC shot 49% from the field for the game while the Trailblazers were limited to just 39% (11-for-28) in the second stanza after connecting for 57% (12-for-21) from the floor in the opening period. MCLA did their damage from the free throw line as they connected for 16-for-21 from the charity stripe in the contest.