WESTFIELD, Mass.  – Westfield State senior guard Jen Ashton roared to life in the second half, scoring 14 of her game high 18 points in the second half as top seeded Westfield State held off eighth-seed Western New England in the quarterfinals of the ECAC New England Division III women's basketball tournament.

Westfield improves to 23-5 on the season and tied the school record for wins, originally set in 1993. 

Westfield trailed 29-28 at the half. The Owls, who shot just 30 percent from the floor in the opening stanza got 10 first half points from Jill Valley.

Western New England benefitted from solid ball movement, picking up assists on 10 of 12 first half buckets.

With the score tied at 36-all, Westfield State got back to back layups from  junior center Forbasaw Nkamebo, and a jumper from sophomore guard Kirsy Segarra to build a six point lead with 14:41 to play.

The Owls extended the lead to nine before Western New England rallied. The Golden Bears gnawed the lead back down to one, 54-53 on a three-pointer by Dorothy O'Neil with 7:29 left in regulation.

Westfield quickly extended the lead back out to nine points by forcing several turnovers, and Ashton scored three straight layups to cap a 10-2 run that gave the Owls a 64-55 lead with 2:19 to play.

Ashton finished with 18 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Valley added 16 points, four assists and three steals, and Nkamebo finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman center Rebecca Sapouckey drew a start and added nine points and seven rebounds for the Owls.

The Owls advance to the semifinals, and will face fifth-seeded Keene (NH) State, a mild 61-58 upset winner over #4 Norwich (Vt.) University.   Time, date and site for the next game will be announced tomorrow.

WNEU ends the season 17-11.  The Golden Bears got 17 points and six rebounds from Samantha McCann, 16 points and seven rebounds from Chelsea Vuis and 14 points and seven rebounds from O'Neil.