Women's Basketball Posts 76-59 Triumph Over Mount Holyoke

Worcester, MA --- Senior Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) poured in a game-best 22 points both as she helped pace Worcester State to a 76-59 victory over Mount Holyoke in non-conference women's basketball action this evening at Clark's Kneller Gymnasium.

For the Lancers (2-1), junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) registered her first double-double of the campaign with 16 points and a contest-high 20 rebounds.

Freshman Nani Perez (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) also chipped in with eight points and nine boards. Junior Natasha Gonzalez (Milford, MA) grabbed eight caroms and senior Kiesha Jones (Worcester, MA/Doherty) chipped in with eight points.

Frankian did her damage off a seven-for-13 line from the field to go with four made trey's and a four-for-five effort at the charity stripe.

Four reached double-figure scoring for the Lyons (1-2) as senior Amber Legare (Chicopee, MA) and senior Kate Karraker (Morgantown, WV) notched 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Senior Nicole DeMarchena (Miami, FL) finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds while freshman Yvonne Dean-Bailey (Exeter, NH) was perfect from the floor (4-for-4) and at the line (3-for-3) to tack on 11 points from the bench. 

The Blue and Gold jumped out to a 15-3 margin over the first five minutes of play before Mount Holyoke came back with a 8-0 run keyed by a three-point play by Legare and a Karraker triple to trail by four at the 13:16 mark (15-11).

Worcester State then utilized a 15-4 spurt over a span of four minutes to take over the 30-15 margin before settling on a 42-24 advantage at the break.

The visitors never threatened in the second half as WSU's largest lead was 66-34 midway through the final stanza.

For the contest the Lancers connected for 33 percent from the game (18-for-54) – including 44 percent in the second period (11-for-25), with four made three-pointers. Worcester State also held leads in points in the paint (30-20), points off turnovers (25-8) and second-chance baskets (17-10).

Mount Holyoke drained seven of their 14 bids from beyond the arc (50 percent) and distributed the ball well with 15 assists for 27 made field goals. The Lyons also had a modest 35 percent effort from the field (27-for-77) and canned 75 percent of their free throws (15-for-20).

Both squads will head to tip-off tournaments hosted by nationally-ranked NESCAC opponents in the latest USA Today/WCBA Division III Poll. Worcester State plays #15 Williams on Friday at 7 PM while Mount Holyoke takes the short trek to play #5 Amherst on Saturday in a 6 o'clock affair.