Tournament Homepage

Worcester, MA --- WPI is the proud host of the 28th annual Worcester City Women's Basketball Tournament, set to tip off at Harrington Auditorium this Friday evening. The Engineers will take on the Nichols Bison in the opener at 6pm, while the defending tournament champion Clark Cougars will take the court in the nightcap at 8pm against the Worcester State Lancers.

WPI (0-1) will try to rebound from its season-opening 67-54 loss on Monday at Brandeis. The Engineers feature senior co-captains Natasha Deschene (Presque Isle, ME) and Caitlin Macko (Cromwell, CT), and a strong core of underclassman featuring the top three scorers from a season ago in 2007-2008 first team All-NEWMAC selection Kaileen Selen (Worcester, MA), Serena DuBois (Bangor, ME) and Elle Fontaine (Franklin, MA).

The Engineers will take on Nichols in the opening game. The Bison are coming off a 21-8 season a year ago, and are led by senior guard MaryLynn Skarzenski (Woodbridge, NJ) and junior forward Margaret Lilly (Ashfield, MA).  Nichols (1-1) has opened the season with a road win over 2008 NCAA Tournament participant Becker and a home loss to Keene State.   

Clark is led by senior co-captains Sara Hagstrom (Yarmouth, MA) and senior Sarah Roderique (Oakland, ME). Roderique led Clark in scoring (17.5 ppg) and rebounding (8.0 rpg) during the 2007-08 season, and was a first team all-NEWMAC selection last year.  Junior Jillian Camilleri (Lancaster, MA) anchors the Cougars in the post.

Clark will take on Worcester State in Friday's second game. The Lancers (1-1) opened the season with a road loss at Springfield before knocking off Mount Holyoke at home on Monday. Worcester State is led by their lone senior, Erin McCullough (Harvard, MA), and their leading returning scorer from a year ago in sophomore Alexis George (Worcester, MA). Junior transfer Reilly O'Keefe (Warren, MA) is already making an impact for the Lancers.

This year's Worcester City Tournament could feature two exciting milestone moments, as Skarzenski is a mere 21 points from reaching the 1,000 point plateau in her collegiate career while Roderique is only 49 points away.

Clark has won the tournament championship 18 of the 27 times it has been played, including 11 of the last 12 years. Clark defeated WPI in last year's tournament final 57-47. WPI last took home the tournament crown in 1995.

The tournament will continue on Saturday, featuring the consolation game at 2pm with the championship game to follow at 4pm.

Story by Ray Cotrufo - WPI Athletics Department