Westfield State rallies to beat Western New England College at Pioneer Valley Hoop Classic

Senior Jen Dabrowski named to All-Classic Team 

AMHERST, Mass. – Senior guard Jen Dabrowski (Plainville, CT) poured in a career high 34 points, but Western New England College fell to Westfield State College 76-73 in a second round game of the Sixth Annual Pioneer Valley Women's Hoop Classic Saturday afternoon (Dec. 1) at LeFrak Gym on the Amherst campus.

The Golden Bears fall to 2-4 while the Owls get to the .500 mark at 3-3.

Dabrowski netted 19 of her points in the opening half as the Golden Bears took a 37-30 lead into the locker room. She finished the game making 12-of-19 shots from the field and all nine free throw attempts while collecting four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Dabrowski earned a spot on the All-Classic Team after scoring 52 points in two contests.

Westfield State didn't waste any time taking the lead starting the second half with an 11-2 run for a 41-39 advantage at the 17:31 mark.

The game remained close the rest of the way with the Owls taking their biggest lead at 63-56 when Peggy Steuerwald made a free throw with 6:01 left in the game.

Ths time the Golden Bears rallied going ahead 71-69 on a three-pointer by Dabrowski with 2:20 remaining. Lauren Sylvain answered with a trey just 15 seconds later to give WSC a one-point edge.

Sophomore guard Kristi LaBare (Burke, NY) made one of two free throws to tie the contest at the 1:11 juncture before freshman guard Taryn Belowski (New Haven, CT) converted one of two charity shots to give WNEC a 73-72 lead with 50 seconds left.

Sylvain then scored what proved to be the winning basket with 29 seconds remaining to give Westfield a 74-73 advantage.

The Golden Bears had a chance to win the game, but Dabrowski missed a jumper with seven seconds left and Sylvain (who finished with 23 points) made two free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.

Andrea Wasuk had a big game for the Owls with 19 points and a game high 14 rebounds. Katie Sylvain added 15 points.

Belowski contributed 13 points for the Golden Bears while sophomore forward Kaylyn Smith (Rensselaer, NY) had her best game of the season with 10 points and six rebounds coming off the bench.

In the first game Saturday, Amherst College (6-0) posted an 80-70 victory over Springfield (3-3) as the Jeffs went a perfect 2-0 in the Classic for the second consecutive season.