Northfield, VT --- Highlighted by sophomore Shannen El-Qasem (Rutland, MA), three different players scored in double-figures to lead the Worcester State to a 60-45 win against the University of Maine-Fort Kent in the opening round of the 2012 TDS Ed Hockenbury Classic hosted by Norwich University this evening.
With the win, the Lancers improve to 2-3 on the season and advance to the championship game against Norwich tomorrow at 3:00 PM while the Bengals fall to 4-3 with the loss and will face St. Joseph (VT) in the consolation game at 1:00 PM.
Worcester State opened the game with back-to-back jumpers by El-Qasem and would never relinquish the lead. El-Qasem netted eight of her 10 total points in the first half to aid the Lancers to a 32-14 advantage at half.
Fort Kent would inch back in the second half, cutting Worcester State's lead to 12 points with eight minutes remaining in regulation, but the Lancers answered with a 5-0 run to put the game back out of reach for the Bengals.
In addition to El-Qasem, Worcester State saw double-digit performances from junior Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) and senior Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) who totaled 11 and 10 points, respectively. El-Qasem added 13 rebounds and O'Keefe contributed 10 as they both notched double-doubles.
Leading the offensive effort for Fort Kent was second-year Ericka Christenson (Warren, ME), who posted a team-high 18 points and added eight rebounds. Freshman Samantha Carapellucci (Fort Kent, ME) contributed 10 points and six rebounds off the bench for the Bengals.
The Lancers finished with a modest 38 percent from the floor for the game (24-for-64), but only sank one of their 11 attempts from beyond the arc. WSU also dominated the backboards with a 55-31 edge and a 23-9 advantage on the offensive glass.
Worcester State also had the 30-20 lead in points off turnovers and a 23-11 margin in second-chance points.
Both squads combined for 30 steals as Burns and UMaine Fort-Kent junior Jenn Colpitts (Scarborough, ME) both finished with six swipes for their respective teams.
Major Portions Of Release Courtesy of Norwich Sports Information