Owls Use Dominant Third Quarter to Pull Away from Falcons, 88-70

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State women's basketball advanced to 3-0 in the MASCAC behind a 19-point performance from Jordan Grant (Gray, Maine) as the Owls outscored Fitchburg State by 17 points in the third quarter to defeat the Falcons 88-70 in conference action from Fitchburg, Mass. on Saturday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 10-5 on the season and have now won three straight games. The Falcons fall to 3-13 on the season and 0-2 in the league.

Westfield overcame a slow start in the first quarter by scoring eight straight points to begin the second quarter with Caellen Foley (Jeffersonville, Vt.) making a jumper, then back-to-back layups Grant and Sophia DeAngelis (Braintree, Mass.) gave the Owls a 24-19 lead. Olivia Hadla (Westfield, Mass.) punctuated the 8-0 run with a layup off a Falcons turnover, giving Westfield a seven-point lead with 7:02 left until halftime.

Fitchburg rallied to tie the game at 31 in the closing minutes of the half before Maddie Pond (Holyoke, Mass.) connected on a straightway three after a strong offensive rebound from Hannah Sheldon (Taunton, Mass.) and a good look from Tavi Williams (Springfield, Mass.) to swing the ball back to Pond. With two seconds left, Pond made a pair of free throws before Malaica Guillaume (Everett, Mass.) nailed a buzzer beater from the top of the key to make it a three point game entering the break.

In the third quarter, the Owls began to extend the lead. Sheldon buried a wing triple to put Westfield up six, then after a layup from Rylie Harlow (Hanson, Mass.), Grant finished through contact on the other end for a layup plus the foul, converting the free throw to put the Owls up seven with seven to play in the third. Grant made another layup on the ensuing Owls possession, then a Fitchburg turnover in the backcourt led to a layup for Hadla, pushing the lead to 11 at 51-40 with 5:50 to go.

The lead increased to 15 later in the frame after Sheldon swiped a pass, out letting up ahead to Hadla for a layup. On the next offensive possession, Pond scored a layup to drive the advantage to 59-44 with 3:17 remaining in the third.

Westfield totaled seven points in the final 1:09 of the period to open up a 20-point lead after Kayley Downie (Easthampton, Mass.) knocked down a three followed by two layups from Grant, the last coming in the final seconds of the period. Grant was particularly effective in the third, piling up 11 points and five rebounds on 5-8 shooting from the field. As a team, the Owls outscored Fitchburg 32-17 in the frame, forcing nine Falcons turnovers while holding Fitchburg to just 33.3 percent from the floor.

The Falcons would get within 13 points of the Owls in the final quarter, but a steal and three-pointer from Ashley Ames (Valatie, N.Y.) upped the lead to 16 points with 5:11 remaining as the Falcons would get no closer than 16 for the remainder of the game.

The Owls had five players reach double digits in scoring with Grant leading the way with 19 points and six steals. Hadla and Pond each scored 12 points while Sheldon and Ames both added ten.

Falcons forward Stephanie Hart (Shirley, Mass.), the nation's leading offensive rebounder, posted a 20-20 outing, registering 21 points and 21 rebounds, ten of which were offensive rebounds. Harlow also recorded 21 points and nine rebounds.

The Owls shot 36-98 (36.7%) from the field but were more efficient in the second half, making 45.8% of their attempts to eventually pull away. Westfield also forced 46 Falcons turnovers which translated to 47 points off turnovers.

Westfield State will briefly step out of conference play this week, travelling to Sage for a non-conference game on Tuesday at 5:30 P.M. before preparing for a showdown against Bridgewater State at home next Saturday.