Lancers Hold Off Bison to Win Home Opener

WORCESTER, Mass. – Worcester State took an eight point lead after one quarter of play and used that advantage to collect a 75-65 win over Nichols College in non-conference women's basketball action on Wednesday evening at Brissette Court.

The Lancers earn the victory in their first home game of the season to improve to 2-1, while Worcester State falls to 1-2 on the year.

Gigi LeMay (Grafton, Mass.) paced the Lancers with 21 points, while Sarah Blomgren (Lunenburg, Mass.) had 16 points and 11 rebounds in the win, as Worcester State outrebounded Nichols 58-39.

Abrianna Vazquez (Dedham, Mass.) filled the stat-sheet for Nichols with 17 points, five assists, two steals and a block.

LeMay and Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) combined for 14 points in the first quarter, which saw Nichols take a 4-0 lead before an 8-0 run gave the Lancers a lead they would not relinquish. Another 8-0 run gave the Lancers their first double-digit lead on a layup by Emma Found (Wakefield, Mass.) with a minute to play in the quarter.

The teams played even in the middle two quarters, and though the Lancers lead the rest of the way, Nichols cut the deficit to four with back to back steals and a layup by Hadley Houghton (Madison, Conn.).

A jumper by Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) and two straight layups by LeMay, followed by an Emma Found (Wakefield, Mass.) block gave the Lancers a ten-point lead again, which they held as the final margin.

Worcester shot 42.9% from the field, exactly 10% better than Nichols, who was 26-79, and went 6-24 (25%) from three-point range.

Found had six boards and five assists and poured in 8 points off the bench, helping the Lancers reserves outscore the Nichols bench 24-17. Worcester also had a 50-36 edge in points in the paint.

LeMay had four assists, five steals, and nine rebounds, a number equaled by Erin Gallella, who led all players with eight assists and also swiped four passes.

Calli Korbey (Hopkinton, Mass.) added five rebounds, two dimes and three steals.

Nichols had 19 steals in the game, including six by Summer Klein (Stamford, Conn.), who had 11 points and 9 rebounds. Guard Leandra Ortiz (Ridgewood, N.Y.) scored 14 points, and Toni Geisel (S. Boston, Mass.) had nine points and four steals off the bench.

Worcester State is home again on Saturday at 5:00 PM when they host Saint Joseph's (ME).

Nichols continues a two-game set against Worcester schools when they host Clark on Saturday at 1:00 PM.