Women's Basketball Falls To Conference Rival Fitchburg State, 73-67

Worcester, MA --- Fitchburg State sophomore Megan Wodzinski came off the bench to pour in a game high 24 points along with five boards and four helpers to help edge Worcester State, 73-67, in MASCAC women's basketball action this afternoon at Laska Gymnasium on the campus of Assumption College.

The Falcons improved to 11-5 on the season and 3-2 in league play while Lancers fall to 11-7 and 2-3 in the MASCAC.

Junior Laura Cote (Ashby, MA) added 22 points while classmate Rebecca Fluet (Fitchburg, MA) pitched in with 13 points and five caroms for the visitors.

WSU senior Kiesha Jones (Worcester, MA/Doherty) scored a team high 17 points and brought in seven boards and fellow senior Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) netted 16 points in the loss.

Junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) controlled the paint to gobble up 16 rebounds and she rejected eight shots for the Blue and Gold in the losing effort.

This afternoon's contest saw 18 lead changes, most of which come in the first half as neither side could muster a significant run to take control of the game.

The largest advantage for either team was five points, which the Lancers gathered behind a quick 7-2 spurt to start the game sparked by five buckets at the charity stripe by Jones.

Fitchburg State grabbed their first advantage on a 6-0 run capped by a free throw by junior Stephanie Leveillee (Worcester, MA/Worcester Tech) with 13:41 left in the opening frame, 8-7.

WSU gained a little breathing room around the 8:00 mark on a Langford layup to give the hosts a narrow 20-16 lead.

The two sides continued to swap baskets for the remainder of the stanza.

Wodzinski gave the Falcons a one-point lead with 44 ticks left in the frame on a three-pointer from the wing, before freshman Brianna Hackett (Hollis, NH) knocked down a free throw shortly afterwards to deadlock the score at 32-32 at the intermission.  

The Blue and Gold opened the second half with a 7-1 surge to take their largest lead of the afternoon, 39-33, just over a minute into the frame. Frankian started the run with a three ball and Langford ended the flurry with a layup.

The visitors came back with a 10-0 skein over the next 1:30 to take over the 43-39 edge with four points apiece by Wodzinski and Fluet.

After Worcester State evened the score 47-47 on a triple by senior Kelli McPherson (Masnfield, MA), Frankian gave the home team their final lead of the contest at 50-49 at the 14:00 mark with an old-fashioned three-point play.

Wodzinski was the catalyst in helping the Falcons took control of the game by utilizing a 9-0 spurt, which helped give Fitchburg State a 58-50 margin. Cote capped off the run with a pair of buckets at the charity stripe with 10:29 remaining and she helped give FSU their largest lead at 2½ minutes later (62-53).

The Lancers had one last push down the stretch with an 8-0 run as Jones had the key shot to pull to within one basket at 62-61 as 4:07 remained in regulation.

Wodzinski helped the Falcons answer on a jumper to break the ice for the visitors and Cote added a trey to make it a two-possession contest with 2:46 on the clock (67-61).

Fitchburg State closed out the contest at the foul line knocking down all four of the attempts at the charity stripe and senior Britney Payne (Franklin, KY) converted lay-up with under a minute to play.

Worcester State lost despite shooting a solid 41 percent (22-for-54) from the field and holding a decisive 51-33 advantage on the boards – including a 16-12 edge in offensive caroms.

FSU shot at just a 36 percent clip (26-for-71), but did nail 40 percent of their trifectas (4-for-10) and turned 31 Lancers turnovers into almost half of their points (30), with 19 swipes.

Both squads take to the floor on Tuesday for a pair of road MASCAC games. The Blue and Gold make the short trek down I-90 to play Framingham State in a 6 o'clock tip while the Falcons travel to Westfield State with a 5:30 start time.

Story By Sports Information Intern - Michael Corso '12