WORCESTER, Mass. - The Westfield State Owls battled back to beat the Worcester State Lancers 75-67 in the regular season finale, as senior center Forbasaw Nkamebo (Amherst, Mass) gave the Owls a double-double performance of 19 points and 12 rebounds. With the win, the Owls conclude their regular season with an 18-7 overall record and 11-1 in the MASCAC, clinching the regular season title and first place seed in the tournament. The Lancers finish out their regular season with a 7-18 and 4-8 MASCAC record.
The Lancers started the game strong when Natasha Gonzalez (Milford, Mass) scored on the first drive of her senior game. The Lancers led throughout the first quarter and played exceptional defense. The Owls were held to only 13 points in the first quarter while the blue and gold were able to rack up 23. Nkamebo achieved something significant in the first quarter, as she broke the Westfield State University's all-time rebound record, earning her 871st rebound of her career as an Owl.
The Owls made some progress in the second quarter outscoring the Lancers 21-18. Even with the much improved second quarter, Westfield still saw themselves going into the locker room with a 41-34 deficit. The Owls only shot 36.8% from the floor and only 40% from the free throw line in the first half. The Lancer led had an impressive half of shooting going 63% from the floor and 77.8% from the line.
The Lancers battled with foul trouble early in the second half. Westfield took their first lead of the competition in the third period when Juniors Jill Valley (Orange, Mass) and Susan Bell (Florence, Mass) hit back to back shots outside the arch for the Owls. The owls gained the lead after three periods of play and brought a 58-51 lead into the final quarter.
After outscoring the lancers 24-10 in the third, Westfield State's head coach Andrea Bertini proclaimed "Now it's a party". The fourth quarter came down to the wire and turned out to be an exciting quarter of play. Westfield outscored Worcester 17-16 and until the final 30 seconds of play, the Owls only held a four-point advantage. After Westfield came through with some clutch buckets, the Lancers were put away.
Westfield shot 32.5% from the field and improved their three-point percentage finishing with 66.7%. The Owls also went 5-18 from beyond the arc. The Lancers finished the game shooting 63% from the floor and 63.6% from the line.
Britt Herring (W.Brookfield, Mass) listed 19 total points, while Kaitlyn Berkel (Waterford, Conn.) registered 14.
For the Owls, Nkamebo led the team, but Valley was also noteworthy in the win as she scored 17 points and had a game-high three steals.
Worcester will return to play when they travel to Bridgewater State for a 5:30 p.m. matchup in a MASCAC quarterfinal game on Tuesday (Feb. 23). The Owls return to play when they host the MASCAC semifinals on Thursday (Feb. 25).