WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State rallied from an 11-point second-half deficit with a strong fourth quarter performance to roll a 87-80 victory over the visiting Worcester State Lancers in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Game at the Woodward Center on Wednesday night.

Westfield State (9-12, 6-2) was just ahead of the Lancers at 49-44, when halftime came to a close.

Worcester State (13-7, 4-3) took an 11-point lead, their largest of the game, over the Owls, 63-52 on a free throw by Gigi LeMay (Grafton, Mass.) with 3:12 left in the third quarter.

The Owls climbed their way back to the top in the fourth quarter when Alison Mendel (Adams, Mass./Hoosac Valley) scored a three pointer to give the Owls the lead for good, 76-74 with 3:31 left to play. The Owls' Chelsea Moussette (Southampton, Mass./ Hampshire Regional)  scored the next seven points and Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) added a three pointer to bring the score to 86-77 with 1:37 left in the game.

The Owls women clung to this lead until time ran out. 

The Westfield women were led by Gray with 19 points and 11 rebounds, Moussette with 12 points and five rebounds, and Alyssa Camara (Quincy, Mass)  and Ally Scolnick (Easton, Mass./Oliver Ames) with 10 points. 

Worcester State was led by LeMay who totaled  32 points and 15 rebounds, and Mya Mosley (Worcester, Mass./Wachussett) with a total of 23. Sarah Blomgren (Lunenberg, Mass.) added 14 points and 13 rebounds.

With the win, Westfield takes over sole possession of second place in the conference standings.

The Lancers will host Framingham State Saturday, Febuary 8, at 1:00 p.m.

The Owls will be back in action for another conference game at Fitchburg State, Saturday, February 8 at 12:00 p.m

-- written by Anna Matthews, sports information intern