Herring Matches Career-High Rebounds in Lancers’ 75-64 Win over Nichols

WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State University's Britt Herring (W. Brookfield, Mass.) matched a career-high 16 rebounds, tallied a team-high 14 points and five blocks in the Lancers' 75-64 victory over the visiting Bison of Nichols College Thursday (Dec. 8) evening inside the Lancer Gymnasium.

Also scoring in double digits for the Blue and Gold was Brianna Hackett (Hollis, N.H.), Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.), and TaNajia Smith (S. Windsor, Conn.) with 13-12-10 points, respectively. Freshman Catherine Sweeney (Lowell, Mass.) notched a game-high seven assists on the evening.

For the Bison, Brooke Packard (Dudley, Mass.) led all scoring with 18 points. Also scoring in double-digits was Brittany Donovan (Newport, R.I.) and Amy Assad (Millis, Mass.) with 13 and 10, respectively. Taylor Daniels (Dudley, Mass.) registered a team-high 10 rebounds and was just two shy of a double-double with eight points.

Worcester State jumped off to a 6-0 start in the first period on buckets from Herring and Berkel. Nichols' Donovan cut the lead in half on a triple with 5:26 remaining in the quarter. Worcester State upped their lead to five moments later on a jumper from Berkel. However, a three from Assad and a layup from Donovan knotted the score at 10-10 with 3:12 remaining in the first. The score was tied once again at 17-17 with 21 seconds remaining, only for Worcester to take the 2-point lead going into the second after three offensive rebounds and a layup from Herring.

The Bison took their first lead of the game 1:30 into the second quarter when Assad nailed a three for the 20-19 edge. The teams went back-and-forth in the stanza as there were numerous lead changes. Worcester State ran away with a 36-30 halftime score after going on a 6-0 run with three minutes to play in the second.

Nichols came out of the intermission with a spark as they went on a 10-2 run to take a 40-38 lead. After back-and-forth play, the Bison ended up on top 50-48 going into the final stanza following a jumper from Callie Andrews (Southbridge, Mass.).

The Bison began the fourth quarter with buckets from Donovan and Andrews to take a 6-point lead – their largest lead of the evening. Despite the heat in the Bison's hands, the Lancers closed out the evening with a 12-2 run, and then another 13-4 run in the last four minutes of play to mark the 75-64 win.

The Lancers held the advantage in field goal percentage (44.3%) and three-point field goal percentage (37.7%), however the Bison held the edge in free throw percentage, going 6-for-8 from the stripe.

Worcester State outrebounded Nichols College 50-34, especially on the offensive front as 24 of the 75 figures were second chance points.

Next up, the Lancers travel to Springfield College on Saturday (Dec. 10) for a 1 p.m. tipoff. The Bison resume play on the same date when they host Clark University for a 1 p.m. matchup.