Women’s Basketball Advances to Worcester City Tournament Championship After Defeating Clark, 82-75; Surprenant Scores Career-High 20 Points in Win

WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's junior guard Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) scored a career-high 20 points to guide the Lancers to an 82-75 victory over Clark in the opening game of the Worcester City Tournament Friday evening.

THE BASICS

November 17, 2017

Kneller Athletic Center

Score: Worcester State 82, Clark 75

Records: Worcester State (2-0) | Clark (1-1)

1^ST QUARTER

Clark jumped off to an 8-0 lead on three buckets, including a triple, from Haley Wilder (Rindge, N.H.) and a free throw from Ogechi Ezemma (Hope Valley, R.I.) before the Lancers reached the board 2:05 into the stanza on a layup from Shaye Lane (Dracut, Mass.). The hosts held a 6-plus advantage until Worcester State's Suprenant made back-to-back jumpers and a free throw to trim the Cougars' lead to just two. Clark responded with two buckets, however, Worcester State took its first lead of the game with 3:04 remaining in the quarter succeeding a layup from Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) and a 3-pointer from rookie Sam Maglione (Lancaster, Mass.). The teams traded points, though Worcester came out on top at the end of the frame following a triple from freshman Colleen Cutting (Auburn, Mass.).

2^ND QUARTER

The Lancers began the second quarter with an 8-0 run to hold a 9-point advantage with seven minutes remaining in the second. The Lancers notched an 11-point lead with 5:16 remaining when Britt Herring (West Brookfield, Mass.) picked up an offensive rebound and put the ball into the bucket for a 34-23 score.  Worcester State slowly pushed away as Maglione pressed the lead to 13 following another triple, and Surprenant completed the quarter with a triple to extend the lead to 15 (47-32).

3^RD QUARTER

The Blue and Gold kept their distance from the Cougars. Mid-way through the third, Clark ignited an 8-0 run when Idalis Miranda (Naugatuck, Conn.) netted two back-to-back threes. However, Worcester responded with an 11-4 run to close out the third with a 69-53 score in favor of the Lancers.

4^TH QUARTER

Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) logged a jumper and a 3-pointer to start the final quarter. Behind by 17 with five minutes to go, Clark saw seven points from Miranda, Ezemma, and Myra Kersseter (Northampton, Mass.) to tighten the gap to 10.  Clark battled back and Miranda made a triple with 18 seconds remaining to bring the game within seven. Nevertheless, Clark was unable to complete the comeback with the limited time left.

DOWN FOR A COUNT

• Suprenant led the Lancers with a career-high 20 points and going 8-for-13 from the field and 3-for-4 from the free throw line.
• Berkel logged a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
• Also scoring double-digits for the Blue and Gold was Hackett (14), Maglione (14), and Herring (13).
• Hackett guided the offense with a team-high four assists.
• The Cougars were led by Wilder who marked a game-high 24 points in the win.
• Ezemma posted 21 points, going  10-for-12 from the field, while Miranda tallied 15 points in the setback.
• Rachael Chen (Needham, Mass.) led Clark in rebound with 12.
• The Lancers shot 53.3% from the field, in comparison to Clark's 40.9%.
• Clark held the advantage in shooting beyond the arc, going 6-for-15 (40%) while Worcester went 6-for-17 (35.3%).
• Clark edge Worcester in rebounds, 40-36.
• Worcester State committed 23 turnovers which turned into 20 Cougar points, while Clark registered 10 turnovers.

UP NEXT

With tonight's win, Worcester State advances to the Worcester City Tournament Championship game, which is scheduled against WPI tomorrow at 3 p.m. on the campus of Clark University.

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