WORCESTER -- Led by a 22 point day from senior Ama Biney (Worcester, MA) the WPI Engineers were named the 2017 Worcester City Tournament Champions as they defeated the Lancers of Worcester State, 59-46, Saturday afternoon in the Kneller Center. It is the program's ninth title overall and fourth in-a-row.
Junior Kate Surprenant (Pelham, NH) put the Lancers on the board first with a made jumper just 40 seconds into play. WPI responded with buckets Biney and Madison Beck (Syracuse, NY) to put them up 4-2. Surprenant went on to score Worcester State's next two baskets to give the Lancers a 6-4 advantage. The two teams traded points for the remainder of the quarter but it was a late 3-0 run from WPI that gave the Engineers the 14-11 edge heading into the second stanza.
The Engineers quickly extended their lead to 16-11 with a good layup from Stasha Greenalch (Newington, CT) with just 15 seconds off the clock. Brianna Hackett (Hollis, NH) tightened the WPI lead to three with two made free throws for the Lancers (16-13) but a layup and jump shot from Maddie Blake (Bedford, NH) and Beck put the Engineers back up by seven points (20-13) with 8:48 to play in the quarter. The Lancers wasted no time tightening the score back to four on a deep three-pointer from Hackett. WPI was able to extend their lead to as much as nine and but a last minute jump shot for the Lancers made by Surprenant ended the half with a score of 27-20, WPI.
Worcester State came out fired up in the third quarter. They started with an early 3-0 run as Britt Herring (West Brookfield, MA) put up five points from two layups and a free throw and brought the Lancers within two points of WPI (27-25). Worcester State junior Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, CT) drove to the basket with just 6:11 on the clock and knocked down a layup to tie the score at 30-30. Berkel stayed hot and drained a shot from behind the arc to give the Lancers a 33-32 lead with just 4:40 to play. WPI responded with a 4-0 run and extended their lead back to five after a pair of made free throws from Biney put them up 38-33 at the 2:50 mark. Freshman reserve Sam Maglione (Lancaster, MA) stepped up for the Lancers and knocked down a three to bring them back within two (38-36) with under two minutes to play in the third quarter. The Engineers ultimately took a 44-38 lead into the last stanza
The first two minutes of the last quarter were scoreless until Worcester State's Hackett broke the silence with a made layup and Herring followed her with a layup of her own to bring the Lancers within two (44-42). WPI never gave up their lead though and took the ultimate 59-46 victory over Worcester State. Biney led the Engineers in the last quarter with eight points and WPI only allowed eight points from Worcester State in the last 10 minutes of play.
The Engineers are at Nichols Tuesday for a 7pm start and the Lancers are at Western New England University at 5pm.
WPI Seniors
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL WORCESTER CITY TOURNAMENT 2017 AWARDS
MOST OUTSTANDING PLAYER
WPI – Ama Biney
ALL TOURNAMENT TEAM
Clark – Ogechi Ezemma
Becker – Cassidy Harrison
Worcester State – Kate Surprenant
Worcester State – Britt Herring
WPI – Maura Buckley
Release Courtesy Clark Sports Information