WORCESTER, Mass. – The Worcester State women's basketball team was within seven points of No. 11 Amherst College in the fourth quarter of Monday night's non-conference game, but the Lancers dropped a 59-49 decision at Brissette '88 Competition Court.
Gigi LeMay (Grafton, Mass.) scored 18 points, and has now equaled or exceeded that total in six of the last eight games. LeMay was 7-14 from the field, and also had 8 rebounds, four assists, six steals and a blocked shot.
Erin Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) scored 14 points, handed out 4 assists and recorded three steals for the Lancers (9-9). Abby St. Martin (Putnam, Conn.) had 9 points and a team-high 9 rebounds.
Reeya Patel (Salime, Mich.) had 16 points to lead the Mammoths (14-2), who also got 10 points from Dani Valdez (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) and 11 points off the bench from Lauren Pelosi (Middlebury, Conn.).
Pelosi was 5-9 from the field and made her only attempt from three-point land, a triple with 2:50 remaining in regulation that put the Mammoths up 12 points after the Lancers had cut their deficit to 54-47.
It took five minutes into the first quarter for either team to score a field goal, and the Lancers stayed with the Mammoths, taking a 10-7 lead on a three-point jumper by Erin Gallella with 2:16 left in the first. Gallella hit two of four from long range in the first half.
Amherst ended the first quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 16-10 lead to the first break. They stretched the lead to 11 points by scoring seven of the first nine points in the second quarter, and took a 14-point lead on three straight baskets from Patel before Elizabeth Gallella (Tewksbury, Mass.) hit a jumper right before halftime.
LeMay had ten points in the first half, along with four steals and five rebounds. Amherst shot 51% from the field in the first half, while the Lancers were 2-4 from behind the three-point line.
Patel had seven points in the third quarter, but the Lancers cut the deficit by a point, trailing by 11 heading into the final period.
Steals by Elizabeth Gallella and Nyah Thomas (Attleboro, Mass.) a minute apart led to back to back fast break layups and the Lancers pulled to within 7 with 5:30 left in the fourth, but got no closer, as Valdez converted a layup and Pelosi hit from outside the arc.
The Mammoths finished the game shooting 45% from the field, despite being held to just 3-12 in the fourth quarter, where the scored just seven points. Worcester scored just 8 points in the final frame, and finished the night with a 38.2% shooting.
Amherst is set for a top 25 showdown when they travel to Bowdoin on Friday, February 4th at 7:00 PM.
Worcester State is home against Bridgewater State on Saturday at 1:00 PM in the front end of a MASCAC doubleheader.