Pride Slows Owls, 70-60

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –  Springfield College used  strong first half and a balanced scoring attack to get past Westfield State, 70-60, in a non-conference women's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Friday evening.

Springfield limited the Owls to just 16 points in the first half.  Westfield entered the game as the highest-scoring team in the country with a 97 point per game average.

Alex Goslin (South Windsor, Conn.) led the Pride with 19 points, Emily Jacques (Edward Little/Auburn, Maine) added 18 and Gracie Restituyo (Barrington, R.I.) scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.

Springfield improves to 5-4 with the win, while Westfield falls to 4-5.

The Owls may have been showing the effects of playing a fast paced overtime game against Smith just two nights earlier as Westfield committed an uncharacteristic 14 turnovers and shot just7-29 from the floor and 1-14 from three point range in the first half.

Springfield used its height advantage well closing out on the Owls shooters and coming up with 18 second-chance point on 13 offensive rebounds in the first half.

Westfield picked up the pace in the second half, and chipped the Pride's lead down to as few as five points, once late in the third period, and again on a pair of Kierra McCarthy (Ludlow, Mass.) free throws with 1:37 left.

Springfield converted 11 of 12 free throws in the final 1:14 to seal the win.

Westfield was led by 20 points from Lucy Barrett (Mt. Greylock/Williamstown, Mass.).  Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) added 11, while McCarthy finished with nine points and ten rebounds.

Westfield State will break for finals, then return to action in the D3Hoops.com Las Vegas Invitational, where the Owls will meet #3 Amherst College on Dec. 28 and Buena Vista (IA) on Dec. 29.