WESTFIELD, Mass. – Senior forward Breanna Comeau had a game-high 17 points and 12 rebounds and junior guard Bridget Dullea scored 14 points to lead Salem State University to a 61-60 victory over Westfield State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference opener.
 
Salem (5-8 overall) held on for the victory after Westfield (7-7) had erased a 12-point second-half deficit to take a three-point lead, 60-57. But Salem outscored Westfield 4-0 in the final 2:41 to pull off the road victory.
 
Both teams had difficulty executing in the final minutes. Ginny Fleming put back an offensive rebound to pull Salem with a point, 60-59, with 2:23 remaining.
 
Westfield's Molly Waitt just missed making a baseline jumper and fouled Rachael Carter on the rebound with 2:09 remaining. Carter canned both free throws for the game's final points.
 
The Owls missed four field goal attempts and two free throws in the final two minutes, while the Vikings missed two field goals and a free throw.
 
With nine seconds remaining, Westfield freshman Gabby Felix was short on the first of two free throws and committed a lane violation on the second attempt. Westfield fouled on the inbounds pass with 7.6 seconds remaining and Dullea missed the front end of a one-on-one. Felix grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to freshman guard Jen Ashton, who was unable to get off a shot attempt after briefly mishandling the ball near the offensive baseline.
 
Led by Felix and junior guard Jenny Bell, Westfield jumped out to a 16-10 in the opening five minutes. But the offense stalled as the Owls did not make a field goal for a six-minute stretch and Salem took a 24-21 lead on a 3-point basket by Amy Barry with 5:01 remaining.
 
The Vikings led at halftime, 35-28, and built a 12-point, 45-33 lead with 14:34 left in the game after Dullea 3-point basket. Following a timeout, Westfield went on a 9-0 run to close within three, 45-42.
 
Westfield went ahead 56-53 on a 3-point basket by Angela Paterson with 4:48 remaining. Salem regained the lead on two Comeau layups, but Westfield made it 60-57 on a Paterson layup and two Ashton free throws.
 
Westfield's offensive woes were revealed in the statistics. The Owls only committed 10 turnovers but they shot 28 percent from the field (23-81), including 4 for 19 from beyond the arc, and 52 percent from the foul line (10-19).
 
Felix scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Bell finished with 11 points and a game-high four steals.