WESTFIELD MA — Olivia Hadla led three Westfield State players in double-figure scoring as the Owls women's basketball team took down the Emerson College Lions, 89-65 in a non-conference game at the Woodward Center on Thursday evening.

The Owls improve to 4-4 on the season as the Lions fall to 4-5.

Hadla (Westfield, MA) led the Owls with 21 points, with 14 of those points coming in the second half. Jordan Grant (Gray, ME) had 19 points and seven rebounds, and off the bench, Maddie Pond (Holyoke, MA) had 10 points.

The first quarter was back and forth for the Owls and Lions until the Lions went on a 17-10 run, started by a layup from Ella Bushee (Walpole, NH). Westfield trailed the Lions 27-19 as they entered into the second quarter.

Westfield endured a scoring drought from the last two minutes of the first quarter until the sixth minute of the second quarter where a layup by Sophia DeAngelis (Braintree, MA) broke the drought. From that point on it was all Owls, as the Owls went on a 20-6 run to head into halftime up 41-36.

The Lions weren't ready to go away so easily in the third quarter. Eight third-quarter points from Bri Frongoli (Hopedale, MA) and seven third-quarter points from Bushee stopped the Owls from building their lead to more than six, as Westfield entered the fourth quarter up 61-55.

The six-point differential to start the fourth was the closest the Lions came in the second half. The Owls were hot from the start of the fourth, opening up the fourth quarter on a 12-3 run led by a three-pointer from Hadla. A strong seven-point quarter from Grant kept the Owls lead building.

The Owls' bench combined for 43 points led by 10 points from Pond, nine points from both DeAngelis and Morgan Berthiaume (Webster, MA), and eight points from Jess Gardner (Webster, MA).

The Owls recorded 29 steals led by five a piece from Hadla and Pond. Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, MA) had four steals as the Owls forced 41 turnovers from Emerson

Bushee ended the game as the Lions' leading scorer with 24 points and 12 rebounds. Frongoli finished the game with 14 points for the Lions.

The next game for the Emerson Lions is Tuesday, December 12 at 6:00 PM at Nichols College. The next game for the Owls is Saturday, December 9 at 1:00 PM at home, hosting Western New England University at the Woodward Center.

-- Written by Jordan Aguiar, sports information intern