Vikings Fall to Lancers on the Road

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Lancers were able to use a 25- point opening quarter to propel them to the 78-66 victory over the Vikings, snapping Salem State women's basketball three-game Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) win streak. This afternoon's loss dropped the Vikings to 9-11 overall and 4-3 in conference play.

Liz Zaiter (Peabody, Mass.)  spearheaded the Vikings with 17 points, nine rebounds, and three assists before her fifth foul sidelined her in the fourth quarter, while teammate Kylie Gates (Pembroke, Mass.) once again had her hands in everything with 13 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Ernidia Goncalves (Everett, Mass.) and Abuk Teng (Manchester, N.H.) netted 16 and 15 points, respectively, in the effort.

Worcester State saw double-digit performances from five Lancers, with Katie Hurynowicz (Tyngsboro, Mass.) and Sarah Blomgren (Lunenburg, Mass.) leading the charge with 17 apiece while Blomgren also secured 12 rebounds for a double-double in the victory.

How it Happened:

• Zaiter was able to keep her squad in the game after notching eight of the Viking's 15 first quarter points, to keep the deficit to 10 as the Lancers' hot start to put them up 25-15 heading into the second quarter of action.
• Worcester State picked up where they left off in the first by netting eight straight points to put them ahead by 18 (33-15) before a layup from Goncalves stopped the bleeding with 7:58 to play in the half. After two minutes of scoreless action, the Vikings strung together four unanswered points to chip away at the Lancer's lead and force the home team to take a timeout. After the regroup, neither squad was able to tack on another basket until the Lancers went 1-2 from the free line with 1:36 remaining to put them on top by 14 (36-22). Worcester State would tack on three more points and hold the Vikings scoreless to go into the half with the 39-22 advantage.
• Both teams traded baskets to open the third before a Lancer three pointer followed by a layup at the 6:37 mark gave the home team the 19-point cushion (50-31) and gave them their largest lead to date.  
• With four minutes to play in the third, the Vikings went on a 8-0 run to cut their deficit to nine (52-43) and force the Lancers to use a timeout, but the break would work in favor of the Vikings as they were able to come within five points of Worcester with 13 ticks left in the third. But the Lancers would tack on a last-second layup to give themselves the slight 56-49 tilt heading into the final ten minutes of play.
• Once again, the Lancers found themselves up by double-digits less than two minutes into the fourth after gritty play downlow brought the score to 60-49. Goncalves would once again bring her squad's deficit to single digits (60-51) but the Lancers would go on a 6-0 run to give themselves a 15-point cushion with seven minutes to play in the game.
• With 4:32 remaining in the game, the Vikings used a 30 second timeout to try to mount a comeback but would only come within 12 of the home team before the Lancers cruised to the 78-66 victory over the Vikings.