Olivia Hadla (file photo)
Posted: Nov 28, 2023
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State senior guard Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) recorded a career-high 31 points, but the Owls could not overcome a 26-point second-half deficit, falling to Emmanuel College 93-84 in a non-conference game on the road Tuesday night.
The Owls drop to 3-3 overall while the Saints improve to 2-3 on the year.
Westfield held an early lead in the contest after a Maddie Pond (Holyoke, Mass.) triple gave the Owls a 15-9 advantage with 2:23 left in the first quarter. The Saints managed to take the lead heading into the second period, closing the opening frame on a 10-2 scoring run to push ahead of the Owls 19-17.
The Owls reclaimed the lead early in the second quarter after Hadla connected on a three-pointer, then two possessions later, Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) grabbed her own miss and scored inside to give Westfield a 24-21 lead with 8:43 left in the half.
Westfield extended the lead to as many as seven points in the second quarter before the Saints went on an extended 37-15 run that spanned through the third quarter as Emmanuel led by as many as 27 points in the beginning stages of the fourth quarter. Overall, the Owls were outscored by 17 points in the frame.
In the fourth quarter, the Owls made a hefty push to get back into the game, ripping off an 18-2 run with a Lindsey Bohenko (Lowell, Mass.) layup and a Grant free throw closing the Saints lead to just ten points with 2:47 remaining in the game.
After a pair of made free throws by Megan Schuermann (Cooperstown, N.Y.), Hadla buried her fifth three of the night to put the Owls within nine points with 2:06 to play in the game. However, a pair of layups from Schuermann and Olivia Matela (Swampscott, Mass.) increased the Saints lead back up to 13 points with 1:28 left, ultimately sealing the victory for Emmanuel.
Hadla's career-high 31-point effort came on 11-26 shooting from the field, connecting on six of 15 triples. Grant followed with 14 points and six rebounds with Pond adding 11 points on an efficient 4-7 shooting. Octaviana Williams (Springfield, Mass.) stuffed the stat sheet by grabbing 15 rebounds and piling up seven steals to go along with eight points.
Matela led the Saints with 26 points while dishing out a team-high eight assists. Paris Atuahene (Phoenix, Ariz.) was the next leading scorer with 17 points while Schuermann scored 16 points off the bench and collected eight rebounds.
Westfield outscored the Saints by five points in quarters one, two, and four combined, but could not overcome a third quarter in which the Owls were outscored 30-13.
Westfield State will remain on the road for their next game as the Owls travel to Coast Guard on Saturday at 1:00 P.M.