Emerson leads Panthers in LEC setback

            DANBURY, Conn. – Sophomore Cassidy Emerson (Concord, N.H.) finished with a team-best 11 points as Plymouth State University fell 62-48 to Western Connecticut State University in a Little East Conference (LEC) women's basketball game at Feldman Arena on Saturday afternoon.

            WCSU jumped out to a 12-2 lead to open the game, and led comfortably for the majority of the afternoon.  A late PSU run cut the margin to ten points, 58-48, with 1:38 to play, but the Colonials closed out the game with three defensive stops and perfect shooting from the charity stripe to earn the LEC victory. 

THE BASICS

  Feldman Arena, Danbury, Conn. – Sat., Jan. 14, 2017

  Plymouth State 48, Western Connecticut 62

  Records:

  Plymouth State 3-9 (1-4 LEC); Western Connecticut 10-5 (3-2 LEC)

PSU LEADERS

  * Emerson … 11 points (5-of-7), three rebounds

  * Sophomore Kailyn Aguiar (Acushnet, Mass.) … eight points, eight rebounds

  * Senior Kayla Wyland (Melrose, Mass.) … six points, eight rebounds

  * Senior Annaliese Schmidt (Newmarket, N.H.) … three points, seven rebounds

BY THE NUMBERS

  * The Panthers connected on 19-of-56 shots (33.9%) from the field while holding the Colonials to just 18-of-61 (29.5%), but the hosts drained ten shots from beyond the arc (10-of-20) compared to PSU's one.

  * WCSU owned a 49-39 advantage on the boards.

  * The Plymouth State bench outscored its counterparts by a 31-17 margin.

HOW IT HAPPENED

First Quarter:

  * The hosts jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead in the game's first five minutes. 

  * Wyland stopped the run with back-to-back buckets for the Panthers, but freshman Gabrielle Hurlbert (Thomaston, Conn.) answered with consecutive triples.

  * Senior Maddy Beatrice (Newton, Mass.) sank one-of-two free throws to make it 18-7 at the end of the first.

Second Quarter:

  * Senior Leah Swanson (Atkinson, N.H.) had three quick points to make it 18-10 in the opening minute of the second quarter, but WCSU answered with a 7-0 run.

  * Emerson connected from long range as time expired, cutting the Panther's margin to 32-19 at the intermission.

Third Quarter:

  * The Colonials opened the second half with an 8-2 burst, including a pair of triples from senior Emily Dobson (Westerly, R.I.), to pull ahead 40-21 in the quarter's first 3:27.

  * PSU used an 8-0 run, capped by a layup from Schmidt, to make it 40-29 with 3:42 to play in the frame, but WCSU again responded scoring seven of the quarter's final nine points to lead 47-31 after three.

Fourth Quarter:

  * Another Dobson three-pointer ballooned the WCSU lead to 20 points, 54-34, in the first three minutes of the final quarter. 

  * After a WCSU free throw Plymouth State mounted a comeback.  The Panthers scored nine straight points, before a triple from sophomore Jancy Sherwood (Poughquag, N.Y.) stopped the run.

  * PSU responded with the next five points to cut it to 58-48 with 1:38 remaining, before WCSU closed out the game with four free throws.

NEXT UP

  * The Panthers are home for the next five games, starting with a 6:00 p .m. tip-off against Mount Holyoke College on Monday.

  * WCSU squares off against Eastern Connecticut State University on Wednesday (5:30 p.m.) in an LEC game.

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