Women's Basketball Defeated By Westfield State, 62-51

Worcester, MA ---  Westfield State sophomore Keri Doldoorian (Whitinsville, MA/Sutton) poured in a season-best 20 points to highlight four in double-figure scoring as she helped pace the Owls to a 62-51 victory over Worcester State in MASCAC women's basketball action this afternoon at Clark University's Kneller Athletic Center.

With the win, the Owls improved to 13-10 overall and 6-4 in conference play while the Lancers slip to 8-15 and 4-6 in league action.

Worcester State held their annual "Play 4 Kay" event in an effort to raise breast cancer awareness along with other college teams from around the nation and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA).

Junior Jen Ashton (Beverly, MA) also paced the Westfield State attack with 11 points, six rebounds, seven swipes and seven assists as freshman Alyssa Darling (Palmer, MA) chipped in with a campaign-high 12 points to go along with seven boards.

Sophomore Forbasaw Nkamebo (Amherst, MA) pitched in 10 points and corralled a team-high 10 caroms in the win for her sixth double-double of the season.

Senior Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) led the Lancers (8-15, 4-6 MASCAC) with 14 points off a 6-for-12 effort at the field. Sophomore Cheyenne Jennings (Worcester, MA/Wachusett) also finished her afternoon with 10 points, six helpers and eight caroms.

Junior Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA) chipped in with 10 points and a match-high 12 boards for the Blue and Gold.

Nursing the 15-13 edge with 11:41 on the clock, Westfield State used an 18-5 surge over the next minutes to take over the commanding 33-18 margin with 2:46 remaining.

Doldoorian bookended the spurt with a trifecta and finished it off with a lay-up while Ashton and freshman Kirsy Segarra (Holyoke, MA) both logged traditional three-point plays.

The Owls were also seven-for-eight from the line in the run and pushed ahead for the 41-20 edge at the intermission.

Westfield State was ahead by as many as 22 points with 13:09 remaining (50-28) before the Lancers got themselves back into the game with by tripling up their opponents with a 21-7 spurt.

The Blue and Gold made it a 57-49 contest as 3:02 was left on the clock in a total team effort with 15 points by El-Qasem, Jennings, Burns and sophomore Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA).

After El-Qasem canned two more from the free throw line for the 59-51 deficit near the two-minute mark, Nkamebo converted a key lay-up with 67 ticks left and Darling sank the front end of a bonus try for the final score.

Westfield State connected on 40 percent of their bids from the field (23-for-58) while also ending the contest with leads in points in the paint (24-14), second chance points (15-12) and transition baskets (10-4).

The Owls also parlayed 19 miscues into a 22-7 edge in points off turnovers due in large part to 12 steals.

The Lancers held the 44-38 margin in rebounding, offensive boards (15-11) aand bench scoring (11-5). Worcester State was held to 32 percent from the field and only sank one of their 15 bids from beyond the arc while they hit an 83 percent clip at the charity stripe (10-for-12).

Both teams resume their respective MASCAC schedules on Tuesday evening. Worcester State hosts Fitchburg State at Nichols on "Senior Night" at 6 PM while Westfield State heads to MCLA for a 5:30 meeting.

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