Women's Basketball Downs Misericordia, 74-71

Williamstown, MA --- Senior Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA) and junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) both posted double-doubles while senior Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) tossed in a game-best 25 points as they helped lead Worcester State to a 74-71 victory over Misericordia in the final game of the Williams Tip-Off Tournament this afternoon.

El-Qasem tallied 14 points with 14 boards while Langford was a presence with 15 points, 11 caroms and four blocks.  

The Lancers (3-2) were also paced by freshman Nani Perez (Worcester, MA/Doherty) who stuffed the box score with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Frankian was phenomenal from the field, going 9-for-13 and five-for-seven from downtown with two made free throws and six rebounds.

Senior Shelby Brochetti (Wallkill, NY) propelled the Cougars (0-4) with a team-high 20 points. Junior Sam Baro (Douglasville, PA) and senior Lauren Smicherko (Old Forge, PA) chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively.

Freshman Jaclyn Hajec (Utica, NY) pulled down nine boards and she dished out three helpers for Misericordia.

With the Cougars up 37-30 at the intermission, Langford and Frankian sparked a furious charge that saw Worcester State go on a 20-2 run and take over the 52-39 margin with 11:10 left to play. The pair combined for 12 points in the surge.

Misericordia answered with a 15-2 spurt to tie things up at 54-54 just five minutes later as Brochetti converted a trio of three-point plays in the swing for the Cougars.

After Nikki Baro (Douglasville, PA) connected on a jumper with 5:45 on the clock, Frankian swished a triple to put the Lancers up for good at 59-56.

Over the next three minutes the two squads went back and forth trading baskets and Frankian had another clutch trifecta to put the Blue and Gold up 64-60 at the 2:19 mark.

Misericordia had a chance to take the lead after Baro hit a field goal and a three-pointer of her own to help the Cougars close the gap at 66-65.

But Seeley missed both of her tries at the line with 51 ticks remaining and then Brochetti's offensive board and follow-through shot went over the basket. El-Qasem then came up with the defensive carom and Misericordia was forced to foul the rest of the way.

WSU went six-for-six at the charity stripe and sealed up the hard-fought victory.

The Cougars originally staked the 26-14 advantage with 6:02 left in the opening frame. After an 8-2 run by the Lancers to make the score 34-30, Sam Barro hit a jumper and Nikki Baro sank one of two at the free throw line for the 37-30 edge at the break.

It was an even game in many respects as the two squads were tied in total rebounds (41-41), points off turnovers (17-17), free throw percentage (70 percent – 14-for-20) and both were over 40 percent from the field overall.

The difference, however, was the shooting percentage in the second period as WSU hit half of their tries (15-for-28 – 54 percent) and Misericordia canned one third of their shots (34 percent – 12-for-35).

The Cougars bench outscored the Lancer reserves, 14-3, and Worcester State led in baskets in the paint (30-20).

Each team takes on a road opponent at 7 PM on Tuesday, before the Thanksgiving holiday. The Lancers head south to St. Joseph's (CT) while Misericordia takes on Lycoming.