WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior forward Ashley Finnegan (Worcester/Holy Name) scored a game-high 22 points and sophomore reserve guard Angela Paterson (Nantucket) had 14 points to lead Westfield State University to an emotional 72-70 overtime comeback victory over Smith College in its home opener Wednesday, Nov 17.
A steal and layup by junior guard Janae Jones (Springfield/Minnechaug Regional) cut the lead to one, 64-63, with 34 seconds remaining in regulation.
A made free throw from Devon Quattrocchi gave Smith a 65-63 lead. But Finnegan sent the game into overtime when she powered in for a layup in traffic with eight seconds remaining after receiving a nice pass in the lane from Paterson.
The Owls continued their defensive dominance in overtime and never trailed. Finnegan converted a conventional three-point play for a 68-65 lead at the 4:36 mark and sophomore guard Jenny Bell converted a steal into a layup for a 70-65 lead. Finnegan drained a 15-foot jumper for Westfield's final points and a 72-67 edge with 2:23 remaining. Smith scored at the final buzzer on a 3-point basket from Lizzy BelBruno.
Smith shot 54 percent (15 for 28) from the field in the first half in taking a 33-25 lead into the locker room. The Pioneers only made 12 of 35 field goals and committed 18 of their 27 turnovers in the final 25 minutes.
The Owls pulled out the victory despite shooting 11 for 27 (40 percent) from the foul line. Smith was 12 for 24 from the charity stripe.
Westfield shot 7 for 26 from 3-point range with Paterson canning 4 of 5 attempts from beyond the arc. Also scoring in double figures with 10 points was the ball hawking Jones, who also had seven steals and four assists.
Senior forward Cassy Jouannet (Conway/Frontier Regional) finished with eight points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
Smith's balanced scoring was led by three players scoring 11 points apiece: Quattrocchi, Rosa Drummond and BelBruno. Sydney Parkmond had 10 points and eight rebounds.