Salem, MA --- Salem State freshman Rachael Carter (Merrimack, NH) just missed a triple-double, but came up with several big plays down the stretch to help Salem State hold off Worcester State, 62-61, Tuesday night at Twohig Gymnasium.
Carter finished with 26 points, 11 rebounds and nine steals as the Lady Vikings recovered from their first conference loss of the season. They improved to 9-9 on the year, 5-1 in MASCAC play. The Lancers fell to 8-10 and 2-4 in the league circuit.
The Salem State Athletics Department also held their fourth annual breast cancer awareness night as part of the women's basketball game against Worcester State and the Vikings wore pink Adidas uniforms for the game.
Funds to benefit the fight against breast cancer were raised via donations at the gate and through the sale of "Vikings Think Pink" t-shirts.
After a seven-minute scoring drought cost Salem State an eight-point lead, the game was tied 49-49 with just over six minutes remaining. Carter's layup snapped a streak of eight straight missed shots by the Vikings and gave them a 51-49 lead.
Senior Kaleigh Charette's (Fairhaven, MA) field goal tied the game for WSU, Carter converted a three-point play to put the Vikings up for good. She had a coast-to-coast layup two minutes later to boost the SSU lead to five, 58-53 with 3:30 left.
With Salem State clinging to a three-point lead in the final minute, Carter hit junior Bridget Dullea (Peabody, MA) in stride with a full-court pass for an easy layup to give Salem State a 60-55 lead. Carter then put the game away with a pair of free throws as Worcester State missed a pair of three-pointers in the final 14 seconds.
Both team struggled mightily to score in the second half, but the Lady Vikings increased their five-point halftime lead to eight, 49-41, when sophomore Ginny Fleming (Peabody, MA) hit a layup with 13:31 remaining. That would be Salem State's last points for more than seven minutes, as the Vikings went cold and Worcester State crept back into the game. Junior Kara Rogers (Lowell, MA) sparked an 8-0 run, finished off by a pair of free throws to tie the game 49-49 with 6:30 left.
Worcester State started off the game on fire, hitting its first five shots and 15 of its first 24. The Lancers led by as many as eight, as third-year Meghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) hit a pair of early threes to give her team a 16-8 advantage.
Carter responded with a pair of threes and when senior Tara Driscoll (Swampscott, MA) hit a jumper, the game was tied 32-32. Carter hit another jumper just before the half and had a steal and a layup at the buzzer to give the Vikings the momentum and a 40-35 lead heading into the halftime locker room.
Other than Carter, who also finished with six assists and no turnovers, Dullea added 13 points and junior Sandra Lanier (Groton, MA) and Fleming finished with eight. The Vikings shot just 3-for-17 from three-point range, but converted 11-13 free throws and committed just 15 turnovers.
The Lancers were led by Charette's 24 points on 11-16 shooting, and she added eight rebounds. O'Keeffe had 14 points, all in the first half and sophomore Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) finished with 12.
Worcester State shot 39 percent from the field, but the Lancers were just 11-43 (25%) in the final 26 minutes after their hot start.
Both squads will play LEC opponents on Thursday at 6 PM. Salem State travels to UMass Dartmouth while Worcester State hosts Rhode Island College.
Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Salem State Sports Information