Strong Third Quarter Pushes Lancers Past Wellesley; Herring Records Double-Double in Win

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State University women's basketball team outscored Wellesley 18-6 in the third quarter to push past the Blue for a final score of 64-47 in the Lancers' home opener Sunday (Nov. 26) evening inside the Lancer Gymnasium.  

THE BASICS

November 26, 2017

Lancer Gymnasium

Score: Worcester State 64, Wellesley 47

Records: Worcester State (3-2), Wellesley (2-2)

1^ST QUARTER

The Blue were the first to reach the scoreboard as Zojaha Ayub (Belle Mead, N.J.) drained a triple 1:16 into the game. The Lancers' first bucket was scored by Kate Surprenant (Pelham, N.H.) just over a minute later to bring Worcester State within one. The Blue kept the slim lead until Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) put the Lancers ahead on a layup mid-way through the stanza. On the next possession, Wellesley came back with a 3-pointer from Kayla Jang (South Pasadena. Calif.) to go ahead once again and ignite a 9-0 run to attain a seven point lead with 2:15 remaining in the first. Worcester State fought back and got within two with 57 seconds remaining. They wrapped up the quarter with a buzzer shot from Sam Ellis (Grafton, Mass.) to head into the second trailing by one.

2^ND QUARTER

Worcester State saw its second lead of the day 51 seconds into the second when Berkel made a layup. Though, Wellesley took back the lead when Jang made a pair of free throws. The teams traded points for the rest of the quarter as neither team saw a lead greater than four. The stanza ended with a jumper from Wellesley's Chelsea Brown (San Jose, Calif.) to knot the score at 28-28 going into the intermission.

3^RD QUARTER

Worcester State slowly edged away from the Blue in the first half of the third quarter, until the Lancers blasted ahead on a 9-0 run started by Ellis with 3:40 to go in the stanza. The Blue and Gold headed into the final quarter ahead by 12 (46-34). The Lancers outscored the Blue 18-6 in the third.

4^TH QUARTER

Worcester State maintained the 12-point lead in the fourth quarter and ended the final frame with an 8-4 run to conclude the final score at 64-47. The Lancers' largest lead of the game came in the 4^th win 1:03 remaining. Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) guided the Lancers in the final stanza as she totaled eight points on two three's and a pair of free throws.  

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS

• Worcester State was led by Herring who had a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds and also notched a season-best four blocks and four assists.
• Berkel also reached double-digits in points with 14. She came one rebound short of a double-double with nine.
• First-year Colleen Cutting (Auburn, Mass.) scored 10 points as she went a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, including two triples.
• Hackett tallied totaled eight points, while Sweeney put in six with a team-best five assists and three steals.
• Wellesley had three players score double-digits: Jang and Caitlin Aguirre (El Paso, Texas) each had 11 points, while Lane Arkangel (Redondo Beach, Calif.) totaled 10.
• The Blue's Alyssa Cho (Hillsborough, Calif.) led the team in board with seven.
• Aguirre and Kendall You Mak (San Francisco, Calif.) each had three steals in the setback.
• The Lancers shot 52 percent from the field (26-50) and 40 percent from 3-point range (4-10).
• Wellesley shot 27.1% from the field, and 26.3% from beyond the arc.
• The Blue logged a 76.9 free throw percentage, making 10-of-13 free throws.
• Worcester State outrebounded Wellesley 44-24.
• Half of Worcester State's points were scored in the paint.
• Last year, the Lancers beat the Blue by a score of 61-52.

UP NEXT

Worcester State heads to Connecticut College on Wednesday (Nov. 29), while Wellesley also resumes play then and travels to Emerson for a 7 p.m. tilt.

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