WESTFIELD, Mass. – Castleton State College captured the inaugural Westfield State University Women's Basketball Tip-Off Tournament with a 52-38 victory over the host Owls on Saturday, Nov. 17.
 
The Spartans won despite not having a single player score in double figures in the championship game. Tournament MVP Meghan O'Sullivan scored nine second-half points, including a key bucket in the game's final minutes when the Owls were staging a comeback.
 
All-Tournament team selection Alyssa Leonard of nearby Amherst, Mass., finished with six points, four assists and a team-high 11 rebounds for the Spartans. O'Sullivan (28 points) and Leonard (17 points, 11 rebounds) led Castleton to their first-day tournament victory over Regis College.
 
Westfield led Castleton, 13-9, then the Owls went stone cold offensively, failing to score for a 12-minute stretch. Castleton outscored Westfield, 11-0, in the final 8:35 of the first half to take a 20-13 intermission lead.
 
The Owls finally scored on two free throws by sophomore center Gabby Felix of Springfield, Mass., with 16:43 on the second-half clock to trail 25-15.
 
Felix earned all-tournament team honors by posting a double-double with game highs of 17 points and 12 rebounds. Westfield sophomore guard Jen Ashton (10 points, four assists, six steals) was also selected to the all-tournament team.
 
Despite struggling offensively (Westfield only shot 22 percent from the field) the Owls closed to within six points, 38-32, on a Felix lay-in with 3:04 remaining.
 
But sparked by two O'Sullivan jumpers and two steals and four points from Jade Desroches, the Spartans quickly reeled off 10 unanswered points for a 48-32 lead with 1:58 remaining.
 
Also scoring nine points in Castleton's balanced attack was Stephanie Linder. The teams' rebounds, turnovers and free throw shooting were nearly identical, but the Spartans shot 36 percent from the field.