Worcester Telegram & Gazette Recap

Worcester, MA --- Westfield State sophomore Jen Ashton (Beverly, MA) turned in a solid all-around performance with nine points, four boards, four assists, and three steals to help propel third-seeded Westfield State past #2 Worcester State, 45-36, in the semifinals of the MASCAC Women's Basketball Tournament this evening at Lancer Gymnasium.

The Owls (18-9) move on to the title game to take on top-seeded Bridgewater State on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center. The Lancers (13-13) await word on a possible ECAC bid on selection Monday. 

The meeting marked the 16th matchup between the two squads in the MASCAC Tournament since it started in 1989-90 and the 10th time in the semifinals. Westfield State is now 11-5 all-time in the tournament versus the Blue and Gold. 

The Owls were also paced by senior Briana Kelly (Hamden, MA) who netted a team-best 10 points while senior Jenny Bell (Northampton, MA) chipped in with a season-best seven swipes. 

The Lancers were led by senior Meaghan O'Keefe (Warren, MA) who recorded a game best 11 points to go along with 13 rebounds for her 16th double-double of the campaign.

Classmate Kara Rogers (Lowell, MA) collected nine points and grabbed five boards in the defeat.

Worcester State came out of the gates early going on a 7-0 spurt to open the game after O'Keefe was able dial one in from long range at the 17:03 mark.

Westfield State then battled back with strong defense causing 15 first-half turnovers led by Bell who had five swipes of her own in the opening frame.

The Owls grabbed their first lead of the contest after an 11-2 run was concluded with a lay-up from third-year Tania Ortiz (Holyoke, MA) with just under nine minutes left in the stanza (11-9).

The Blue and Gold then tied up the contest at 11-11 after a pair of free throws by Rogers before Westfield State used an 11-4 spurt to close out the half after a trey by first-year Tayler Travis (Somerset, MA) made it 22-15 at the intermission.

To start off the second period, Westfield State opened up a 14-point edge after Kelly tickled the twine from behind the line with five minutes gone in the final period (30-16).

The Lancers then cut the deficit to ten after consecutive layups from Rogers and O'Keefe just 40 ticks later.

The Owls jumped back out to a 14-point margin with back-to-back buckets by Kelly and Ortiz to make the score 34-20 with 11:47 remaining.

Worcester State sliced the deficit to single digits after a Rogers layup and an O'Keefe which made it a 34-25 game with just over nine minutes left in regulation.

After a Westfield bucket, Rogers converted a traditional three-point play to help the hosts trail 36-38 at the 7:15 mark to get the standing-room only crowd back into the contest.

Kelly then converted a layup for the Owls stretching the lead back to 10 before junior Meaghan Burns (W. Brookfield, MA) hit consecutive jumpers to make the score 38-32 with 5:22 left to play.

But that was as close as the Lancers got as Westfield State utilized a layup by Ashton and a Travis jumper in a two-minute span to get the lead back to double-digits (42-32).

Worcester State cut the lead to eight on a pair of occasions in the waning minutes of the contest, but the Owls ran out the rest of the clock for the final score.

Westfield State played a tenacious man-to-man defense to hold the Lancers to just 29 percent from the field (14-for-50) while the Blue and Gold equaled the effort on the other end of the floor limiting the visitors to just a 31 percent clip for the contest (17-for-54). 

The Blue and Gold were dominant on the glass turning in a convincing 45-30 margin in rebounds and used a 13-8 edge in offensive caroms to hold a 9-4 lead in second chance buckets. 

However, the Owls had their hands in the passing lanes all night and used 13 steals to cause 26 miscues and parlay a 19-12 edge in points off turnovers.

Westfield State also lead in fast break points (11-0), points in the paint (22-20) and bench scoring (20-6).

The two squads combined for 13 blocks in the contest as the visitors had eight rejections as a team.

Story By John Hanna – Sports Information Graduate Assistant