Worcester State 46, Westfield State 43
Westfield, MA ---- Worcester State withstood a furious Westfield State comeback to hold on for a 46-43 victory in MASCAC women's basketball action. The Lancers, who led by 16 points halfway thru the second half, improved to 11-9 overall and 5-3 in the conference.
It was a hard-earned 200th career victory for Worcester State head coach Karen Tessmer whose record is 200-214 in 16 years with the Lancers.
The contest was a defensive struggle as the game was tied seven times in the first half and Westfield (7-13, 1-7 MASCAC) held a 22-20 intermission advantage. But the Lancers went on an 8-0 run in the first two minutes of the second half. A 22-4 spurt gave Worcester State a 16-point, 42-26 lead, with 9:52 remaining.
But the Owls held the Lancers to just one field goal the remainder of the game as they nearly pulled off a big come-from-behind victory.
Junior Alexis George (Worcester/Holy Name), Worcester's only player in double figures with 13 points, scored the Lancers' final field goal on a layup for make it 44-32 at the 8:00 mark.
Westfield then scored 11 unanswered points - the final four when Third-year Ashley Finnegan (Worcester/Holy Name) converted steals into layups - to pull within a point, 44-43, with 1:04 remaining.
After a missed layup by George, Westfield turned over the ball with 24 seconds left and was forced to foul. George missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw, Westfield grabbed the rebound, then called a timeout with 17.5 seconds remaining.
But the Westfield comeback abruptly ended when senior Sarah Boudreau (Tewksbury, MA) drove to the basket and missed a shot in heavy traffic. Worcester's senior Bri Flanders (Southampton, MA) grabbed the rebound and promptly canned a pair of free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining to ice the game.
Finnegan led all scorers with 22 points, just over half of Westfield's team total. Westfield's second leading scorer was sophomore reserve guard Janae Jones (Springfield/Minnechaug) with six points; she also had a game-high five steals.
Senior Reilly O'Keefe (Warren, MA) had eight points and a game-high seven rebounds for the Lancers. Sophomore Kaleigh Charette (Fairhaven, MA) finished with nine points and six boards. Charette, Flanders and freshman Kara Rogers (Lowell, MA) also combined for six steals
Westfield State forced a season-high WSC 29 turnovers with 17 steals as they converted them into 26 points. In their final run, the Owls scored 12 of their 15 points off of 10 miscues. The Lancers held a 30-26 rebounding advantage, but Westfield State held the 9-6 edge off the offensive glass.
The two squads played tenacious defense as Westfield State connected for 35 percent for the game (16-for-45) while the Lancers shot 43 percent from the field (18-for-42). WSC only made two of their 10 attempts from three-point land while the Owls did not make a single one of their seven shots from downtown.
Both teams continue MASCAC play with Saturday afternoon games. Worcester State entertains Framingham State at 3:30 while Westfield State travels to Salem State for a 1 PM tip-off.
Major Portions of Release Courtesy of Westfield State Sports Information