Moussette's Free Throw Pushes Owls Past Framingham, 77-76

WESTFIELD, Mass.  –    Westfield State junior point guard Chelsea Moussette (Hampshire/Southampton, Mass.) hit 1- of 2 free throws with seven seconds left in regulation, which proved to be just enough for the Owls to squeak past Framingham State, 77-76 in a MASCAC women's basketball game at the Woodward Center on Wednesday night.

Westfield State improves to 13-9 overall and 7-2 in the conference, and take control of their destiny to earn a top-two seed in the upcoming league tournament and the first-round bye that comes with a top seed.

Framingham drops to 14-8 overall and 6-4 in the conference.

The two teams battled back and forth all night.  The Owls led 39-31 at the half, but Framingham took a 57-55 lead at the end of three quarters.  Framingham had a driving layup attempt at the buzzer after Moussette's free throw, but the layup rolled off the rim as the buzzer sounded.

Framingham was hampered by the loss of 2018 conference player of the year Mary Kate O'Day (Tahanto/Berlin, Mass.), who exited with an injury in the second quarter after scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds.  The Rams were led by 17 points and 10 rebounds from Emily Velozo (Tewksbury, Mass.), Tiphani Harris (Revere, Mass.) added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Julia Sanborn (Dracut, Mass.) chipped in with 13 points and 15 boards.

Sophomore forward Melissa Gray (Peabody, Mass.) led the Owls with 15 points, while Lucy Barrett (Mt. Greylock/Williamstown, Mass.) added 13 and Moussette finished with 11.

Framingham outrebounded the Owls by a whopping 59-35 margin.  Westfield forced 31 Framingham turnovers, which the Owls converted into 30 points, and the Owls connected on 12 of 36 three point attempts.

Westfield will be back in action on Saturday, traveling to Salem State for a 3 p.m. tip-off, while Framingham will travel to Bridgewater for a 3 p.m. start.