DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College women's basketball team fell to the visiting Worcester State University, 73-48, on Thursday night in non-conference action at the Nichols Athletic Center.
 
The Bison drop to 2-4 overall with the setback, while the Lancers improve to 5-3 with the win.
 
Junior Amy Assad scored a game-high 15 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Bison. Senior Allison Cerrato joined her in double-figures with 10 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while sophomore Jessica Larsh stuffed the stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, five assists and a block. Freshman Beth Laing and graduate student Brittany Donovan chipped in five points apiece for the Bison.
 
Worcester State had four players reach double-figures in scoring led by 14 points and eight rebounds from junior Kaitlyn Berkel. Sophomore Catherine Sweeney nearly had a triple-double with 13 points, 11 rebounds, nine assists and six steals, while junior Britt Herring had 10 points, three rebounds and nine blocks. Senior Brianna Hackett came off the bench to knock down four three-pointers en route to 12 points.
 
The Bison connected on 18-of-60 (30%) of their field goal attempts, 3-of-14 (21.4%) of their three-pointers and 9-of-10 (90%) of their free throws in the setback. Worcester State shot 27-of-72 (37.5%) from the field while hitting 7-of-16 (43.8%) of its three-pointers and 12-of-16 (75%) of its free throws. The Lancers held a 49-40 advantage in rebounding, while committing only 11 turnovers compared to 22 for the Bison.
 
Worcester State held a 7-3 lead early in the first quarter of play before a 4-0 run by the Bison on a layup from Assad and a pair of Cerrato free throws knotted the game at 7-7 with 4:27 remaining. Nichols took its first lead of the game when Assad converted again inside the next time down, but the Lancers answered with a Hackett triple to take back the lead at 10-9. Nearly a minute later, Assad buried a three-pointer to put the Bison in front 12-10, and this time Worcester State would answer with a 7-0 run to end the quarter and take a 17-12 lead into the second period.
 
Nichols trimmed the deficit to 17-16 with four-straight points to open the second quarter, but the Lancers eventually built a 24-19 lead on a pair of Sweeney free throws with 4:26 remaining. The Bison quickly erased the deficit on a three from Larsh and two Donovan freebies to tie the game at 24-all, and after two more Sweeney free throws put the visitors in front 28-24, freshman Isabella Nerney canned a triple to make it a 28-27 game headed into halftime.
 
Beth Laing tied the game at 31-31 with a jumper at the 7:53 mark of the third quarter, and the lead changed hands over the next couple of possessions until a three-point play from Herring gave the Lancers a 40-36 advantage with 3:48 remaining. Worcester State extended its lead to 42-36, but a three-point play from Larsh trimmed the deficit back to 42-39 and 1:24 left to play in the quarter. The Lancers would end the period on a 5-2 run to take a 47-41 lead into the final period of play.
 
The fourth quarter was all Worcester State as the Lancers outscored Nichols 26-7 in the final frame. Six different players scored at least three points for the Lancers, while Nichols got five points from Allison Cerrato.
 
 
All-Time Series
Nichols and Worcester State met for the 19th time in program history on Thursday night, and the Lancers lead the all-time series, 13-6.