Women's Basketball Opens MASCAC Play With 70-57 Victory Over MCLA

Worcester, MA --- Senior Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) and sophomore Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) both logged double-doubles for Worcester State as they helped lead the Lancers to a 70-57 triumph over MCLA in MASCAC women's basketball this evening at WPI's Harrington Auditorium.

Both squads now sport identical 4-9 records on the season. WSU improves to 1-0 in their first conference match-up while the Trailblazers are now 0-2 in the league circuit.

For the Blue and Gold, Frankian finished with a game-best 22 points and Burns tallied 18 points while both shared contest-high honors with 13 boards apiece.

Junior Kiesha Jones (Worcester, MA/Doherty) chipped in with 10 points and classmate Kelli McPherson (Mansfield, MA) added nine.

Freshman Courtney Durivage (Wayantskill, NY) propelled the visitors with 12 points in 14 minutes of action off the bench. First-year Ashley Clawson (Tolland, CT) and senior Kaitlyn Chenevert (Uxbridge, MA) also both registered 10 points each.

Sophomore Mariah Brown (Windsor Locks, CT) had an all-around great game with five points, seven caroms, three assists and a trio of swipes.

With the score knotted 15-15 midway through the first period, Burns helped the Lancers embark on an 8-1 run by making three consecutive field goals to help WSU take the early 23-16 contest with 7:05 left.

MCLA, however, came right back with an 8-0 spurt on the back of two trifectas by Clawson and took over the 24-23 advantage two minutes later.

The Blue and Gold answered by closing out the frame with a 14-6 surge for the 37-30 score at the intermission.

After Chenevert drained a jumper with 3:00 on the clock for the visitors to get within a basket (27-26), McPherson connected on a pair of three pointers to help give her squad the lead at the break.

The Trailblazers came out of the locker room and outscored the visitors with a 7-2 outburst to threaten, just three minutes into the second frame (41-37).

Worcester State came right back and used a similar 7-2 run to go into double digits as the rally was capped off by a McPherson trey (49-39) with 13:33 remaining.

Durivage helped MCLA respond by hitting a field goal and her second three-pointer over a 90 second span to make it a seven point game with 12:23 on the clock.

The Lancers took control by putting the game back into double-figures for the 57-45 advantage near the midway mark in the final stanza. The Blue and Gold were sparked by Burns who netted two buckets in the paint and Frankian tacked on a pair of baskets at the line.

The Trailblazers never made the score close again as the Lancers maintained their margin for the final score.

For the contest, Worcester State sank 48 percent of their shots from the floor (28-for-59) and they were five for 12 from beyond the arc (42 percent). MCLA, on the other hand, only hit 33 percent (20-for-61) and they hit under half of their bids from the charity stripe (12-for-25 – 48 percent).

WSU held the edge in total boards (42-40), points in the paint (18-13) and second chance points (24-14). The Trailblazers led in offensive caroms (22-18) and turned 23 turnovers into 19 points, 11 coming off of steals.

Both squads continue the first half of their MASCAC schedule with games on Tuesday at 5:30 PM. Worcester State heads to Salem State while MCLA entertains Fitchburg State.

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