RIC Uses Second-Half Comeback to Defeat Women's Basketball, 72-63

Worcester, MA --- Rhode Island College senior Cynthia Gaudet (Coventry, RI) led four players in double figures as she finished with 16 points and six swipes to help lead the Anchorwomen to a 72-63 triumph over Worcester State in non-conference women's basketball action this evening at the Lancer Gym.

With the win, RIC runs their unbeaten streak to 13 games and its record to 16-2. The Lancers slip to 8-11 overall with the loss.

Junior Courtney Burns (Rockland, MA) also paced the Anchorwomen with 12 points and 10 rebounds while fourth-year Rachel Riley (Coventry, RI) poured in 13 points and classmate Stephanie Coro (N. Providence, RI) added 11.

Third-year Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) propelled the Blue and Gold as she notched her second double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-best 13 boards. Sophomore Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) and freshman Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA) both recorded equal sums of 14 points and seven caroms apiece.

Senior Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) also chipped in with a team-best 16 points as she finished with a contest-high four assists.

The Lancers took advantage of poor shooting by the visitors in the early goings of the contest and staked the 27-8 lead with 9:06 left in the opening period.

As Worcester State continued to hold the 34-15 edge with 6:12 to play, Rhode Island College would hit seven of their last 10 shots to trail 42-33 at the half – including four field goals for three pointers.

The Blue and Gold started off the second stanza strong by pushing their lead to 46-35 with 17:40 remaining, but that was as high as their lead would go as the Anchorwomen would then stage a furious come-from-behind rally to take control of the game.

Utilizing a tenacious full-court press, RIC forced 16 Lancer miscues and parlayed them into 18 quick points over the next 15 minutes and they would also outscore the hosts 29-10 for the 66-56 edge with 3:18 left.

Trailing 69-59 at the 2:16 mark, Worcester State would go on a 7-0 spurt to get within six points (69-63), but the visitors closed out final 60 seconds of the contest hitting three of their last four from the free throw line to ice the game.

The Lancers would end the first period hitting 61 percent from the field (17-for-28) before they were limited to 35 percent in the final period (six-for-17). The hosts also enjoyed advantages in rebounds (42-23) and points in the paint (39-29). WSU was also 88 percent from the charity stripe (14-for-16).

Despite their early struggles, Rhode Island College boasted a modest 40 percent field goal margin as they also nailed nine of their 23 attempts from downtown (39 percent). Overall the Anchorwomen had a 34-14 advantage in points off turnovers and 16 of Worcester State's 31 miscues came by way of steal. RIC outscored the Lancers 39-21 in the final frame.

With her 16 points tonight, Charette moves into a tie for 10th place on the all-time scoring list with Kerry Driver (1989-93) with a total of 1,076 in her four-year career.

Both teams will resume their respective conference schedules on Saturday afternoon. The Lancers entertain Framingham State at 3:30 while RIC hosts Eastern Connecticut at 1 PM.