Telegram & Gazette's "Lancers Enjoy South"

By Jennifer Toland
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Telegram & Gazette Link

The Worcester State women's basketball team recently returned from Birmingham, Alabama, where the Lancers' five-day trip combined competition, culture, history and camaraderie.

WSU fell to Birmingham-Southern, a former Division 1 program, 61-48, last Thursday. The Lancers were without a couple of key players, including freshman point guard Colleen Cutting of Auburn, who is sidelined until February with an ankle injury.

In addition to the game, the Lancers visited the University of Alabama, toured the huge campus, watched the women's basketball team practice, and were swept up in the excitement of Crimson Tide football.

Worcester State players and coaches also went to the Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church, which, in 1963, was the target of the racially motivated bombing that killed four young girls during the civil rights movement.

"They were very moving experiences," Worcester State junior guard Kate Surprenant said. "We had an awesome tour guide who talked about her every day experiences and how the conversations that were happening in the '60s are the conversations that are still happening today in regards to discrimination and equality, so it was impactful for us to hear her personal accounts and to see the institute and the church and all the history that was in Birmingham."

The Lancers also did activities such as zip lining, and enjoyed two authentic and delicious local barbecue joints.

"The key thing is for our kids to look beyond where they live, get out beyond Worcester," WSU coach Karen Tessmer said, "learn about something historical that went on in the '60s, see other schools like Alabama. We played a good team and we're trying to get better as a team. We spent a lot of time together and the whole trip was great. We would have liked to get the win, but we feel like we're setting ourselves up for a good January and February."

WSU is 5-5 heading into Wednesday's game against Keene State.

Worcester State traditionally does a Christmas-break trip that incorporates basketball and education. Past places the Lancers visited include Seville, Spain, Phoenix and Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

"These are experiences we might not ever have again," Surprenant said, "and to have them together with our teammates and for Coach to make them happen is really special."

Worcester State will host its 10th annual "Math Madness" event when it hosts Tufts at noon Jan. 8 at Lancer Gymnasium.

Worcester students from May Street, Chandler Magnet, Flagg Street and Forest Grove Middle schools will be in attendance, and Tessmer is expecting a packed gym. Students will be given grade appropriate math packets with questions pertaining to players' statistics, scores and averages, as well as court dimensions.

Tufts, coached by former Oxford High star Carla Berube, was the No. 1 team in Division 3 for the first five weeks of the season, but the Jumbos suffered their first loss of the year — 62-59 to Albright — last weekend.

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.