WESTFIELD, Mass. – Sophomore center Gabby Felix scored a game-high 15 points and sophomore guard Jen Ashton had 14 points, five assists and four steals to lead the Westfield to a 56-40 victory over Drew (N.J.) University in the opening round of the inaugural Westfield State University Tip-Off Tournament.

The Owls advance to Saturday's championship game, where they will play either Castleton (Vt.) State College or Regis College at 3:00 p.m. The consolation game tips off at 1:00 p.m.

 "We played really hard, especially defensively," said Westfield eighth-year head coach Andrea Bertini of her team's effort in the season opener. "At times we were too fast but most of the time we played controlled. We were very disciplined tonight."

Westfield trailed early by scores of 10-5 and 14-9 then went on two scoring runs in the final 11 minutes of the first half. A 9-0 run gave Westfield an 18-14 lead with 7:29 remaining in the first half. Drew regained the lead, 19-18, then Westfield closed out the first half with an 11-0 run for a 29-19 intermission lead.

Ashton, the 2012 MASCAC rookie of the year, freshman point guard Keri Doldoorian, and 5-11 freshman center Forbasaw Nkamebo of Amherst sparked the second scoring run.  Nkamebo finished with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds in 19 minutes of action off the bench.

"They (freshmen) played well, they played within their games and did not try to do too much. We have a lot of depth this year," said Bertini.

The Rangers of Madison, New Jersey, closed to with seven points early in the second half then Westfield began pulling away. The Owls led 16 points, 42-26, midway thru the second stanza and by 20, 53-33, with 5:43 remaining.

"The defense picked it up a lot," said Bertini. "The team started to trust each other more and we made shots that weren't falling for us in the first half."

Westfield had a big edge at the foul line, canning 18 of 24 free throws. Felix, a 6-0 center from Springfield (Commerce) was 9 for 10 from the charity stripe.

Both teams grabbed 44 rebounds but Drew committed 26 turnovers and only shot 25 percent from the field, including a 5 for 23 effort from 3-point range. Westfield shot 31 percent from the field.

Senior guard Whitney Mackay of nearby Suffield, Conn., was Drew's leading scorer with 12 points and Courtney Stephens grabbed nine rebounds. Point guard Jennifer Mateo had a game-high seven assists.