St. Martin Posts Double-Double In Loss To Westfield

Worcester, MA- The Worcester State Lancers (1-13, 0-1 MASCAC) tipped off against conference foe Westfield State (8-7, 1-1 MASCAC) this evening in the team's second conference game of the season.

FINAL: Westfield St. 78 | Lancers 64

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The first quarter was super competitive between the conference rivals with the quarter ending tied 19-19. Sophomore guard Cam Watkins (Dracut, MA) scored the first points of the game for the Lancers around the 8:30 mark. Worcester trailed 9-4 before Watkins charged down the floor dishing a pass to junior forward Abby St. Martin (Putnam, Conn.) who knocked down the shot. 

Senior forward Katie Hurynowicz (Tyngsboro, MA) scored a bucket in traffic with contact sending her to the line for the and-one, converting the three-point play. Shortly after, St. Martin knocked down a three pointer from a pass by first-year forward Mia Haynes (Worcester, MA). 

With the quarter winding down, Westfield fouled senior guard Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, MA) at the half-court line during the opposition's full court press tactic, putting the Lancers in the bonus where Thomas knocked down one of the free shots. 

The second quarter intensity matched the previous ten minutes with both teams trading leads throughout the ending of the first half. Watkins netted a basket putting the Lancers up one with four minutes remaining. First-year Lena Waldron (Quincy, MA) scored her first points of the night on a tough layup in the point.

The score heading into half-time was 38-31 in the Owls favor. 

Hurynowicz ended the first half with 10 points, tied for the game lead with Owls senior guard Olivia Hadla (Westfield, MA). St. Martin finished her half scoring five points and hauling in five rebounds.

Out of the half-time break, the Lancers found a groove early in the third with Watkins leaping for an offensive rebound and going back up with it cutting the deficit to five. St. Martin followed up with a beautiful low post move for a bucket. With nearly five minutes remaining, sophomore Siarra Francis (Marlborough, MA) drove to the basket knocking down a layup in traffic with a foul. Francis drained the first try but missed the second that Hurynowicz cleaned up for a two-point putback. Minutes later Francis had the vision to find a wide open first-year Alana Smith (Chicopee, MA) under the basket in transition keeping the Lancers in striking distance.

Turnover woes crept up on Worcester as the team had a stretch of giving the ball away allowing the Westfield full-court press, totalling 39 turnovers in the game. 

St. Martin and Waldron both had blocks to close out the third quarter.

In the fourth, Thomas continuing her great game made a floater with contact to put her back at the line, making the bucket for her eighth point of the game shooting 6-7 from the stripe. Haynes stole her third ball of the night in her effort of playing every minute with intensity. 

St. Martin ended her day with a double-double as she scored 13 points along with 11 rebounds Hurynowicz ended the night with 16 points and six rebounds with teammate Alana Smith scoring 12 points and six rebounds.

Westfield's Hadla ended the night the game's scoring leader with 21 points on 7-14 shooting from the field and 4-5 from three-point range. Teammate senior forward Jordan Grant (Gray, ME) scored 13 points along with four rebounds.

WHATS NEXT?

With the loss the Lancers record drops to (1-14, 0-2 MASCAC) with Westfield improving to (9-7, 2-1 MASCAC).

Worcester's next game will be a conference matchup Saturday vs. Bridgewater State at home with a scheduled start time of 12 PM.