Women's Basketball Drops Hoop N’ Surf Tournament Opener To Spalding, 52-34
Honolulu, HI --- Worcester State was handed a 52-34 setback on Sunday evening by Spalding (KY) in their opener of the Hoop N' Surf Tournament. Junior Kara Rogers propelled the Lancers in the losing effort with 10 points and four boards.
Honolulu, HI – Spalding (KY) senior Melinda Leavell (Radcliff, KY) tallied a game-best 18 points with five rebounds and sophomore Kerstin Hayes (Dixon, KY) added 13 points as the Golden Eagles defeated Worcester State, 52-34, on Sunday evening at McKinley High School at the Hoop N' Surf Tournament.
With the win Spalding improves to 5-3 while Worcester State slips to 4-5 with the setback.
Junior Kara Rogers (Lowell, MA) chipped in with a team-best 10 points for the Lancers as classmate Meghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) finished with seven points, five rebounds and a trio of blocks.
For the Golden Eagles, second-year Jessica Guy (Louisville, KY) came off the bench to grab eight rebounds and swipe five balls.
With Spalding ahead 10-4 at the 14:57 mark, the Golden Eagles would take advantage of poor shooting by the Blue and Gold to go on a 17-4 run over the 10 minutes as they would open up a 27-8 lead. WSU was two for 11 during the drought and coughed up the ball seven times leading to eight points.
The Golden Eagles would eventually settle for the 32-13 lead at the halftime break.
Worcester State, who actually outscored their opponents 21-20 in the second period, never threatened as the Golden Eagles maintained their double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.
Spalding connected for a modest total of 35 percent from the floor (18-for-51), but only hit six of their 25 attempts from beyond the arc. The squad would also finish with a 17-16 edge in points off turnovers and second chance points (13-5) while they also dominated the backboards (45-31) and the offensive glass (14-11).
A big difference between the two teams was free throw shooting as the Golden Eagles were 10-for-12 and the Lancers were only 22 percent from the charity stripe (2-for-12). WSU shot 28 percent for the game (15-for-52).
Both teams will continue their schedules against George Fox of Oregon, who is ranked third in the latest D3hoops.com Division III Women's Basketball poll. Spalding takes on the Bruins at 2 PM today (EST) and the Lancers close out their trip with a 8 o'clock (EST) tip-off.