WESTFIELD, Mass. – Muhlenberg College junior Jenna Stockfeder (Melville, N.Y.) grabbed 19 rebounds and added ten points as the Mules defeated Westfield State 71-44 in the Westfield Gas and Electric Tip-Off Tournament Championship game from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.
The Mules improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season while the Owls drop to 2-2 overall. Stockfeder was named the Tournament's most valuable player, posting a double-double in the title game while adding seven points in the Mules victory over Eastern Connecticut on Friday night.
Senior guard Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) led the Owls with 15 points and added four rebounds. Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) finished in double figures with 11 points. Octaviana Williams (Springfield, Mass.) led the Owls with nine rebounds and three steals, contributing six points on the afternoon.
Mules forward Emily Unger (Warwick, Mass.) led Muhlenberg with 14 points as she was the team's leading scorer in both contests after posting a game-high 17 points in Friday's win over Eastern Connecticut. Avery McNulty (Pittston, Pa.) joined Stockfeder with a double-double of her own, registering ten points and ten rebounds off the bench.
Muhlenberg opened up a 10-3 scoring run to jumpstart the game with Unger burying her first triple of the contest to push the lead to seven just over the midway point of the first quarter. The Mules used shooting from the perimeter to build an eight-point first quarter lead, knocking down four of eight threes attempted in the frame with two coming from junior Rachel Saxton (Doylestown, Pa.).
The Owls stuggled from the field in the first half overall, including just five points in the second quarter on two made field goals, the last being a triple by Maddie Pond with 44 seconds left, but the Mules would open up a 17-point lead entering halftime with McNulty and Stockfeder combining for nine points in the second quarter. Westfield was held to 5-38 (13.2%) shooting from the field in the half.
Westfield would shave the deficit to 15 points on two separate occasions in the third quarter with Williams scoring a tough layup to make it a 36-21 game with 4:53 left in the period. Muhlenberg had an answer to the Owls comeback efforts as Unger connected on a pair of triples on back-to-back possessions, then McNulty scored a transition layup off a block from Unger to punctuate an 8-0 Muhlenberg run to drive the lead up to 23 points, ultimately putting the game out of reach.
Westfield State will host Mount Holyoke College on Tuesday at 7:00 P.M. for their next home game. Muhlenberg will enter Centennial Conference play as the Mules travel to Swarthmore for a 6:00 P.M. tipoff.
CONSOLATION GAME: Eastern Connecticut 73, Regis College 61
WESTFIELD MA – Taylor Salato's (East Haven, CT) 30 points and 11 rebounds led the Eastern Connecticut State University Warriors to complete a 14-point comeback as they took down the Regis (Mass.) College Pride 73-61 in the consolation game of the Westfield Gas + Electric Tip Off Tournament at the Woodward Center.
The Eastern Connecticut State Warriors improve to 2-1 on the season. The Regis (Mass.) College Pride fall to 0-5 on the season.
It was all Regis for the first quarter as Regis opened up the game on a 7-0 run led by Madi Zancan's (Cumberland, RI) eight first quarter points. Zancan (Cumberland, RI) finished the game with 17 points and a team high 13 rebounds. The Pride outscored the Warriors 28-14 as they entered into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, a strong offensive push by the Warriors' Salato, who recorded six second quarter points, allowed the Warriors to get within ten as they entered the half trailing 26-36.
Eastern Connecticut came out of the locker room with the same intensity they ended the second quarter with as the Warriors opened the half on a 15-4 run, grabbing the lead with a jump shot from Navaeh Clark (Cromwell, CT) with 5:58 remaining in the third quarter, making the score 41-40. The Warriors did not let up the lead from that point on, outscoring the Pride, 47-25 in the second half.
Clark (Cromwell, CT) recorded 13 points and led the team with eight assists. Cara Mcgettigan (Southbury, CT) had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors.
For the Pride, Courtney Doherty (Willimantic, CT) led with 20 points and six assists.
The next game for Eastern Connecticut State University is on Tuesday November 21 at Western New England University at 5 p.m.
The next game for Regis (Mass.) College is on Tuesday November 21 at Framingham State University at 5:30 p.m.