WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State got 15 points from both forward Ashley Giampetruzzi (Manchester West/Manchester, N.H.) and sophomore guard Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow, Mass.) as the Owls recovered from a slow start to roll past Allegheny (Pa.) College 93-68 in the D3 Music City Classic tournament in Nashville, Tenn., on Thursday afternoon.
Westfield trailed 17-10 midway through the first quarter, but shaved the lead to 17-15 at the end of the period. The Owls opened up the lead with a decisive second-quarter, outscoring the Gators 32-10 in the frame to lead 47-27 at the half.
Freshman guard Cayla Durkee (Georgetown, Mass.) chipped in with 11 points in the Owls win, draining 4-5 three pointers in the game, and three of four in the first half to help spark Westfield.
Westfield forced Allegheny into 47 turnovers, setting a new Owls standard for turnovers forced in a game. The Owls had 27 steals on the day, led by five from freshman guard Chelsea Moussette (Hampshire Regional /Southampton, Mass.).
Westfield connected on 11 of 33 three point tried in the game, and overcame a 65-48 deficit in rebounds. The Owls handed out 21 assists on their 32 field goals, led by five each from Moussette and freshman Alyssa Camara (Quincy, Mass.).
Westfield State improves to 6-5 this season. The Owls will get a stern test tomorrow as they will face Ohio Northern University, ranked 17th in the nation in the latest D3hoops.com poll, at Cumberland University in Nashville at 4 p.m. central/ 5 p.m. eastern time.
Allegheny was led by 15 points from Delaney Arbore. Olivia Barkley added 13 points and eight rebounds, and Madison Caufield grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for the Gators, now 2-9 on the season.
# WSU #