Worcester, MA --- Senior teammates Julie Frankian (Millbury, MA) and Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA/Wachusett) both netted 23 points each as they helped pace Worcester State to a 76-66 triumph over Mount Saint Vincent this evening at WPI's Harrington Auditorium.
With the win the Lancers improve to 5-3 overall while the Dolphins slip to 5-2 in the setback.
For the Lancers (5-3), Frankian added nine rebounds and two swipes as she was 9-for-12 from the free throw line with four triples while El-Qasem did her damage on a 7-for-10 effort from the floor and nine made buckets at the charity stripe.
Junior Bianca Langford (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) notched her third double-double of the year with 12 points and 15 boards as freshman Nani Perez (Worcester, MA/Holy Name) and senior Cheyenne Jennings (Worcester, MA/Wachusett) combined to hand out 10 assists.
The Dolphins (5-2) were propelled by sophomore Christina Barone (Staten Island, NY) who was a force for the visitors with 29 points, seven assists and six rebounds. To score her new career-best, Barone also went 9-for-18 from the floor and 9-for-10 at the free throw stripe.
Senior Kelly Fraser (Staten Island, NY) also registered 16 points, nine boards and four swipes.
After Mount Saint Vincent sophomore Brittany Carroll (Staten Island, NY) jacked a triple to tie things up at 19-19 around the halfway mark of the opening period, Worcester State utilized a 12-2 run and took over the 31-21 advantage.
Four different student-athletes contributed to the surge for the Lancers as Langford and Perez both registered four points each.
Barone did sink two from the line to trim the score to eight points, Worcester State closed out the frame with three straight field goals for the 37-23 margin at the half.
To start off the second frame, the hosts outscored the Dolphins 16-6 to take over their largest lead of the contest at 53-29 with 14:10 left in regulation.
Mount Saint Vincent though responded and reeled off a 13-1 spurt to trail 54-42 at the 7:08 mark and made it a 10 point game at the 5:00 mark (58-48).
With WSU ahead 67-53 following consecutive treys by Frankian and 2:23 left to play, the visitors took advantage of missed tries at the free throw line to inch their way back into the game.
Highlighting the 9-4 skein for the Dolphins was Barone who registered a pair of traditional three-point plays to enable the visitors to threaten at 71-64 with 47 seconds on the clock.
In the waning moments of the game, Lancers drained five of eight at the line to deny the visitors a comeback victory.
Worcester State connected for 44 percent from the floor and finished with advantages in rebounding (45-39) and points off turnovers (19-14).
Mount Saint Vincent led in bench scoring (13-6) hit under one third of their shots overall for the game (23-for-70) while also sinking just four of their 21 attempts from the three point arc.
The contest was even in baskets in the paint (34-34) as the Dolphins actually outscored the hosts, 43-39 in the second half.
Both squads have one game remaining before the end of the winter semester. Worcester State takes on Springfield this Friday in a 7:30 PM road contest while Mount Saint Vincent entertains Albertus Magnus in one week in a 5 PM tip-off.