#24 WNE Holds off Owls, 61-50

SPRINGFIELD, Mass.    – Shaina Cooney led Western New England with 18 points as the 24^th ranked Golden Bears held off Westfield State, 61-50 in a non-conference at the Alumni Healthful Living Center on Thursday night.

WNE came into the game ranked 24^th in the nation in the WBCA Division III Coaches' Poll, and was receiving votes in the most recent D3hoops.com national poll.

Western New England improves to 10-0 on the season, while Westfield is now 7-5.

Maddie Pond led the Owls with 14 points, all in the first half.   Hannah Sheldon added 11 as the only other Owl in double figure scoring.  Jordan Grant, Tavi Williams and Jess Gardner each grabbed six rebounds.

Cooney finished 5-8 from the floor and 8-8 at the foul line to lead the Golden Bears with 18 points with Emma Kahn adding 14

WNE led 33-29 at the half, but the scrappy Owls hung around 'til late in the game.

The Golden Bears led 39-31 when Westfield's Morgan Berthiaume scored on lefty drive to break a 6-0 mini-run by the Bears, then Hannah Sheldon drilled a three from the right wing t cut it back to three, 39-36 with six minutes to play in the third quarter.  Westfield's Sophia DeAngelis added a spinning layup in the lane to clip the lead back to 39-38.

WNE closed the third quarter with an 8-2 run to lead 47-40.

The Bears finally extended the lead to 55-44 on a jumper by Kahn with 5:58 left in the fourth and held the Owls off down the stretch.

The Golden Bears outshot the Owls 16-4 at the foul line in what may have been the decisive factor in the game.   Westfield was not awarded a single free throw in the second half.   WNE finished 16-22 at the stripe, while Westfield was 4-4.

Westfield led 11-10 at the end of the first quarter.  The Owls opened the scoring with a three pointer from Pond, and closed it with another trifecta, this one by Ashley Ames, but otherwise scoring was tough to come by for both teams as Westfield was just 4-17 (23.5 percent)  from the floor while WNE shot just 4-15 (26.7 percent).

Western New England led 33-29 at the half after late three-pointer from Kahn.

Pond led Westfield in the first half with 14, connecting on 4 of 6 from long range, while Kahn led the Golden Bears with 10 with Cooney adding eight.

Westfield finished 20-82 shooting from the floor and, 6-32 from three-point range.  WNE was 20-51 from the floor and 5-22 downtown.   Owls forced 26 turnovers but committed 16 themselves.

Westfield will next play on Wednesday, January 8, hosting Framingham State University in the first Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference game of the 2024-25 season.