Lancers Cruise past Mount Holyoke 63-24 in Home Opener

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State women's basketball team opened up their 2016-17 campaign with a 63-24 win over the Mount Holyoke Lyons Tuesday (Nov. 15) evening inside the Lancer Gymnasium.

"It was a great opening night for the women's basketball team in the new gymnasium," commented head coach Karen Tessmer. "We saw a balanced scoring attack, and everyone got to play."

While almost every Lancer scored, a trio of Lancers directed the offense as Britt Herring (W. Brookfield, Mass.) notched a game-high 14 points. Sophomore Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) and first year Catherine Sweeney (Lowell, Mass.) followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Senior Bianca Langford (Worcester, Mass.) marked a game-high seven boards, while Sweeney claimed a game-best seven assists.

"We had great team defense, holding Mount Holyoke to only 24 points and causing 33 turnovers," said Tessmer. Herring, Berkel, and Sweeney each registered three steals apiece in the win. "The intensity was strong," added Tessmer.

Leading the Lyons was Xajahh Williams-Flores (The Bronx, N.Y.) with nine points, five rebounds, two blocks, a steal and an assist. Leah Hodges (New Haven, Conn.) and Genesis DiCarlo (Sullivan, Maine) each scored four points and recorded three steals apiece.

The first field goal of the game came just over two minutes in when Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.) swished one from beyond the arc for the first lead. This marks the first point scored in the Lancer Gymnasium for the Worcester State women's basketball team.

The Lyons kept the Blue and Gold's lead slim until Langford started a run for the Lancers with 4:38 remaining on the clock in the first period. Worcester State would eventually advance the score to 13-6 going into the second stanza. After landing a seven point advantage in the first quarter, the Lancers added another seven to their lead in the second, going into the half up by 14.

Worcester State held the Lyons to just four points in the third quarter, and six in the fourth while they continued the momentum and scored another 35 points in the second half of the game. The Lancers concluded their scoring with two back-to-back steals and shots from freshman Shaye Lane (Dracut, Mass.) to settle the score at 63-24.

 Worcester State registered a 43.8 shooting percentage from the field, while Mount Holyoke was kept at 23.7.

Next up, Worcester State hosts Clark, WPI and Becker in a Worcester City Tournament on Friday and Saturday (Nov. 18-19). For the Lyons, they host Green Mountain in their home opener on Thursday (Nov. 17).