WESTFIELD MA – The Westfield State Owls dropped a tough-fought game, 83-79 to the Framingham State Rams in a MASCAC matchup on Saturday afternoon at the Woodward Center in Westfield.
With the loss the Owls move to 11-9 (4-3 MASCAC). With the win the Rams move to 17-2 (6-1 MASCAC).
A strong third quarter from the Framingham State Rams gave them the lead that they held onto for the rest of the game. The Rams outscored the Owls 23 to 15 in the third quarter, led by nine points from Gwendolyn Carpenter (Ashley Falls, MA). Carpenter finished the game with a triple-double, on 21 points, a team high 12 assists, and 11 rebounds.
The Owls kept fighting back. After trailing by nine with three minutes to go in the fourth, an and-one play from Jordyn Lummus (Pittsfield, MA) cut the lead to six. For the Rams, Carpenter got to the line and made one of her two free throws. The Owls then responded with two back-to-back three pointers from Pond that put the Owls within one with 2 minutes remaining.
Westfield State had erased a nine-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and had the chance to grab a lead in the final minute, but a three-pointer from Maddie Pond (Holyoke, MA) fell just short.
For the Owls, Lummus led the team with 12 points. Octaviana Williams (Springfield, MA) led the team with five rebounds, she recorded four steals and scored 10 points. Pond had 10 points, four assists and five steals. Jordan Grant (Grey, ME) recorded five steals and five assists for the Owls.
For the Rams, Kelsey Yelle (South Easton, MA) led the team with 23 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. Flannery O'Connor (Amesbury, MA) led the team with 12 rebounds and tallied 15 points.
The game was a tale of two halves as the Owls controlled the first half. The Owls opened the gate swinging, outscoring the Rams 19-7 in the first seven minutes to start the game. The Rams called a timeout and then responded with their own run to close out the quarter, cutting the lead to five as they entered the second quarter.
Sharp shooting from the Owls and forced turnovers gave the Owls a five-point lead at the halftime break. The Owls shot 45% from three in the first half and had 14 steals.
The Owls maintained the lead from the start of the game until the 7:30 mark of the second quarter, when a layup from Framingham's Yelle gave the Rams their first lead of the game.
The Owls quickly responded with a three from Olivia Hadla (Westfield, MA) to give them a one-point lead. A layup from Jess Gardner (Webster, MA) gave the Owls a three-point lead. Framingham had a response as a three from Carpenter evened the score.
After the three from Carpenter tied the game for the Rams, the Owls went onto outscore the Rams 13-8 giving the Westfield a 45-40 lead at the end of the first half.
Framingham opened the third quarter on a 10-5 run, tying the Owls up at 50-apiece with 6:50 remaining in the third quarter. A three pointer from Katherine Hastleton (Greenfield, MA), with 6:01 to play in the third gave the Rams the lead that they would hold on to for the rest of the game. Haselton finished the game with seven points, three rebounds, and four assists.
The next game for the Owls is Wednesday, January 31 at 5 PM at MCLA. The next game for the Rams is Wednesday, January 31 at 5:30 PM versus Bridgewater State.
-- Written by Jordan Aguiar, Sports Information Intern