Women's Basketball Falls To Fitchburg State At Home, 58-52

Worcester, MA --- Fitchburg State Freshman Alyssa Orzulak (Palmer, MA) registered a team-high 14 points to lead the Falcons to a key 58-52 MASCAC women's basketball victory over Worcester State University this evening.

With the win FSU improves to 10-10 overall and 4-5 in the conference while the Lancers fall to 11-10 and 5-4 in league play.
 
Orzulak paced the Falcons off the bench, using an 8-of-9 effort from the charity stripe and 3-of-4 night from the field. Senior Melissa Proffitt (Hubbardston, MA) finished with eight points and five boards to add to the offensive mix, while classmate Molly Maloney (Taunton, MA) chipped in with seven points, eight rebounds and two assists.
 
For the Lancers, sophomore Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) was strong offensively, notching a team-high 13 points and seven rebounds while senior Alexis George (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) added 11 points, five boards and two assists.

Freshman Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) rounded out the Worcester State attack with eight points and eight caroms off the bench. Burns and senior Becca Giguere (W. Brookfield, MA) each combined to dish out seven assits in the setback.

Late in the second half, George sent in a three-pointer to become the 16th women's basketball player to reach the 1,000 point milestone.
 
In the first half, Fitchburg State used a balanced attack as ten different players registered a basket to give the Falcons an eight point lead at the break (30-22). 

Worcester State battled back over the opening minutes of the second half, cutting a ten point deficit to only three at the 16:45 mark. George started the Lancer rally with a pair of free-throws at 17:53 before O'Keefe connected with a trifecta to cut the Falcon lead to 30-27. 
 
Fitchburg State quickly regained its four basket advantage with two pointers from Proffitt, Megan Jacobs (Stoughton, MA) and Rebecca Goreham (Quincy, MA), but Worcester State answered the call again to coming within one point (53-52) with 1:56 remaining in the contest. 

Fitchburg State held off the Lancer comeback, however, as they sunk three of their last four free-throws to seal the victory. Overall the Falcons were 16-for-18 from the charity stripe.  

Following four ties and three lead changes, Fitchburg State used a 10-2 run to close out the half as the game was knotted at 18-18 with 7:22 in the opening frame for the 28-20 advantage at the intermission.           
 
FSU's bench lifted the Falcons to their fourth conference victory of the season, combining for 30 points throughout the contest. Fitchburg State was also stingy on the defensive side, limiting the Lancers to only connect five of their 24 attempts from beyond the arc (21 percent) and only 32 percent shooting for the game (19-for-24). 

The Lancers held a 45-36 rebounding advantage and a 21-13 edge off the offensive glass. When they scored, WSU distributed the ball well with 14 assists for 19 made field goals.

Worcester State will return to action on Thursday when they entertain Tufts at 7 PM as they will have their annual "Pink Zone" night to help raise money for breast cancer awareness.

The Falcons will play at home on Saturday against Salem State at 1 o'clock.

Portions of Release Courtesy of Fitchburg State Sports Information