Decisive Second Half Advantage Catapults Owls to Victory over Wesleyan, 96-82

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State seniors Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) and Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) combined for 47 points as the Owls outscored Wesleyan University by 18 points in the second half to pull away in a 96-82 non-conference triumph on Thursday night from the Woodward Center in Westfield, Mass.

The Owls halt their three-game slide, improving to 12-8 on the season while the Cardinals fall to 8-13 overall.

Westfield trailed by as many as ten points on multiple occasions in the second quarter before beginning to chip into the deficit. With the Cardinals leading 49-40 with 1:49 to play in the half, Tavi Williams (Springfield, Mass.) converted a layup, then Kayley Downie (Easthampton, Mass.) came away with a steal with the ball finding her later in the possession for a wing triple, trimming the Owls deficit to four points entering the break.

In the third quarter, the Owls ramped up the pressure forcing 15 Wesleyan turnovers after generating 12 Cardinals turnovers in the first two quarters combined. Williams opened the third period with a layup after the Owls generated a Wesleyan turnover on the first possession. Hadla put Westfield in front with a three-pointer with 8:03 left in the quarter, giving the Owls their first lead since the 7:53 mark of the first quarter.

The Cardinals regained a 55-52 edge before Westfield's defense caused havoc in the backcourt, forcing four consecutive turnovers on four straight Cardinals possessions, leading to an 8-0 scoring run capped by a Maddie Pond (Holyoke, Mass.) triple to ascend the Owls to a 60-55 advantage with 5:16 left in the third.

Westfield closed the third quarter strong, tallying nine of the final 12 points in the frame with a transition layup from Pond on an outlet from Sophia DeAngelis (Braintree, Mass.) bolstering the Owls lead to seven points after three quarters of action.

The Owls held Wesleyan scoreless for the opening 2:46 of the final frame, allowing Westfield to increase their lead into double digits thanks to a layup from Hadla with 8:20 left to make it a 75-65 Owls lead.

Wesleyan responded with an 8-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to cut the Owls lead to two points after a layup from Aviva Schnitzer (Phoenix, Ariz.) and two made free throws from Meghan Kirck (Orange, Conn.) made it a 75-73 contest with 5:08 remaining.

Grant grabbed an offensive rebound and finished in the paint to stem the Cardinals run, then a steal from Pond led to a runout from Hadla on the break, who laid home the bucket to push the lead back to six points with 4:17 to go.

Later in the quarter with Westfield still leading by six, Hannah Sheldon (Taunton, Mass.) pulled down a crucial offensive rebound, kicking a pass out to DeAngelis who buried a shot from beyond the arc to up the lead to nine points with 2:34 remaining.

Wesleyan would get no closer than seven points for the remainder of the contest as a pair of layups from Grant drove the Owls lead into double digits to secure the win.

Hadla led Westfield with 24 points while Grant totaled 23 points and six rebounds. Pond added 15 points, seven assists, and a game-high seven steals for an Owls unit that generated 24 of the Cardinals 36 turnovers in the second half. Overall, the Owls outscored Wesleyan 51-33 in the second half coupled by their relentless press and their 50% second half shooting numbers (22-44 FG).

Tori DeCosta (Bronx, N.Y.) and Schnitzer both logged double-double efforts for Wesleyan with DeCosta compiling 21 points and ten rebounds with Schnitzer logging 12 points and 11 rebounds. Olivia Quinn (Franklin, Mass.) added 17 points while Felicia Fongemie (Ashford, Mass.) registered 12 points to put all five Cardinals starters in double figures for the night.

Westfield State will step back into conference play this weekend as the Owls visit Worcester State for a MASCAC matchup on Saturday at 2:00 P.M.