Fifth Seeded Westfield State Advances In 2013 ECAC Division III Women's Basketball Championships With 66-58 Quarterfinal Victory At Roger Williams
Fifth-seeded Westfield State advanced to the semi-final round of the 2013 ECAC Division III Women's Basketball Championships on Wednesday evening, as the Owls notched a 66-58 victory over fourth-seeded Roger Williams in quarterfinal round action played at the Campus Recreation Center in Bristol, R.I.
Click here for Roger Williams-Westfield State box score
Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information
BRISTOL, R.I. – A balanced
scoring attack led No. 5 seed Westfield State University to a 66-58
over No. 4 seed Roger Williams University in the quarterfinals of
the ECAC New England Division III women's basketball tournament on
Wednesday, Feb. 27.
Westfield, 19-10, advances to the ECAC Tournament semi-finals and
will play at No. 1 seed Castleton State College on Saturday. Roger
Williams finishes its season with a program-best 19-10 record.
The Owls were led by sophomore Jen Ashton (Beverly, Mass.) who
tallied 16 points, five assists and three steals. Keri
Doldoorian (Whitinsville, Mass.) and Gabby Felix (Springfield,
Mass.) also totaled double-digit points for Westfield, as
Doldoorian racked 13 points and four rebounds and Felix scored 10
points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Senior reserve guard Briana Kelly (Hampden, Mass.) and junior
reserve forward Tania Ortiz (Holyoke, Mass.) scored nine and eight
points, respectively, as the Owls again displayed their depth.
RWU was led by Alexandria Lanieri (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) with 16
points and six rebounds. Kaitlyn Bovee (Berlin, Conn.) tallied 13
points and six rebounds, and Angelica Ariola (Prospect, Conn.) was
two assists shy of a double-double with 11 points and eight
assists.
Both teams battled early for the lead with plenty of
back-and-forth action. The Owls began pull away with 12:50
remaining as an Ortiz layup put Westfield on top, 18-12.
Elizabeth Kilzi (Waverly, Pa.) helped bring the Hawks back within
striking distance with a 3-pointer, cutting Westfield’s lead
to three points, 18-15. Kilzi led the Hawks in the first half with
nine points, all coming from behind the arc. Ashton sparked the
Owls in the opening 20 minutes with 14 of her 16 points.
The Owls went on a 13-2 run over the next eight minutes, starting
with a Kelly jumper and capped off with a layup from Ortiz to make
the score 34-19 with 3:37 left in the first half. Westfield
led at halftime, 38-26.
The Hawks began the second half with 3-pointers from Ariola and
Bovee to cut the deficit to eight, 40-32. Westfield responded with
layups from Doldoorian and Ortiz to bring the lead back to double
digits, 55-43 with 7:51 remaining.
The Owls kept in control for most of the second half, holding RWU
at bay by as much as 12 points, until a late surge from the Hawks
led by Lanieri. Lanieri scored six straight points to bring
the Hawks within five points, 59-54 with only 1:52 remaining.
The Owls were able to hold off the Hawks and build back their lead
to 10 points, capped off by a pair of free throws from Kelly for a
66-56 lead with 25 seconds remaining.
Westfield shot a solid 42 percent from the field, including 4 of 7
from beyond the arc, and was 14 for 15 from the foul line.