MCLA rallies but falls just short in loss to Worcester State 50-41

Paxton, MA- The Worcester State women's basketball saw a double digit second half lead trimmed to just three points in the final two minutes, however they held MCLA without a point the rest of the way to defeat the Trailblazers 50-41 in MASCAC action tonight in a game played at Nichols College.  With the win, the Lancers are now 13-7 overall and 4-3 in conference play.  MCLA drops to 7-13 and is now 1-7 in the league.

The Lancers trailed 10-3 in the early stages before outscoring MCLA 25-7 over the final 13 minutes to take a 28-17 lead into the locker room.  The Lancers would hold that lead for much of the second half and when Shannon El-Quasem scored with 9:46 left, they led 41-25.

From there, the Trailblazers would mount a rally.  They would go on a 16-2 spurt over the next eight minutes and when Brayleigh Hanlon connected with 2:05 left it was 44-41 in favor of WSU.  Worcester would then get three cracks to extend the lead, however they came up empty giving MCLA possession with a minute to play.

Courtney Durivage's three was off the mark and MCLA was forced to foul.  Worcester's Julie Frankian went to the striped and calmly drained a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 46-41 with 33 ticks left.  MCLA missed another three point attempt and Frankian again connected on both free throws pushing the lead to 48-41.  The Trailblazers turned it over on the inbounds play and Worcester sealed it with two more free throws.

El-Qasem paced the Lancers with 12 points and completed the double double with 10 rebounds.  Frankian ended with 10 points and 9 boards.  Nani Perez scored only 2 points, but dished out 10 assists.  The Lancers held a commanding 46-30 edge on the glass which helped offset 20 turnovers.

Kayla Hotaling and McLaughlin each had 11 points for MCLA in a losing effort.  Hotaling grabbed 10 rebounds.  MCLA shot just 28% in the game.

The Trailblazers are back in action on Saturday when they host Fitchburg State at 1pm.