WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State rallied from a 10-point first half deficit to come all the way back with a big second half to defeat Springfield College, 92-72, in a non-conference women's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Friday night.
Westfield State improves to 5-5 with the win, while Springfield is now 5-3.
The Pride jumped out to a 7-0 lead and led by as many as 10, 25-15 after a Heather King(Lebanon, N.H.) layup just 22 seconds into the second quarter. The two teams traded runs for the rest of the second quarter, with the Owls briefly grabbing the lead, 36-33 on a Jill Valley (Mahar/Orange, Mass.) three-pointer with 2:01 to play in the half.
Springfield responded with a 9-0 run to close the half, leading 42-36 after a Emily Jaques old-fashioned three-point play with three seconds left in the frame.
With the game tied at 56-all with 2;22 left in the third quarter, Westfield opened up an advantage with and 8-0 run to close the half with senior forward Ashley Giampetruzzi (Manchester Central/Manchester, N.H.) scoring the last four points as Westfield led 64-56 after three.
Westfield gradually extended its margin in the fourth quarter, never leading by less than nine after Lucy Barrett (Mt. Greylock/Williamstown, Mass.) opened the frame with a three pointer. Westfield led by as many as 25.
The Owls were led by 20 points, seven steals and five assists from Valley. Barrett added 15 points, and Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow, Mass.) scored 11 and led Westfield with nine rebounds. The Owls came up with 21 steals, forcing 30 Springfield turnovers. The Owls scored more than 90 points for the fifth time in their last six games.
Springfield was led by 15 points and 13 rebounds from King. Four Pride scored in double figures with Ava Adamopoulos (Ludlow, Mass.) adding 14, Molly McCasland (Millbury, Mass.) 11 and Alex Goslin (South Windsor, Conn.) netted 10 points and dished out six assists.